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Martin Luther King Jr. devoted his life to fighting injustice on behalf of all Americans. However, he didn’t believe in fighting with guns, tanks, or fists.
He believed in using peaceful means. He thought that positive words and ideas and nonviolent action could change the world. In 1955, when he was 26 years old and had just become pastor at a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama, King suddenly became the key leader in America’s civil rights movement. It was a crusade to end discrimination in all forms against all groups. For the rest of his brief life, he inspired people to fight for their rights using nonviolent means.
King paid a great price for his vision. From 1956 until his death in 1968, he was arrested, stabbed, stoned, and finally, assassinated. Although he loved his family, he was often away from home. He traveled from town to town, state to state, and even to Europe, Africa, and Asia to share his dream of peace and love.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”
◀ While in school, King learned about Mohandas Gandhi, who had used peaceful means to free India from British rule. Gandhi knew that he could not fight the British government with guns, so, leading thousands of others, he peacefully broke unjust laws. Gandhi allowed himself to be arrested. He went without food for weeks to draw attention to his ideals. He led thousands of people on marches. He taught people to boycott British goods, schools, courts, and offices. King used many of Gandhi’s techniques in his fight for civil rights.
▲ King spent most of his life in the Deep South. He lived in Atlanta, Georgia, and Montgomery, Alabama, and his major civil rights campaigns took place in Alabama—in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
King was a renowned orator (speaker). His style came from a long tradition in black preaching. It uses biblical allusions, figurative language, emotional appeals, and impassioned call-and-response delivery to persuade and arouse. ▶
Martin Luther King’s birthday, January 15, has become a national holiday. Today, almost every city in America has a street, a park, or a school named after him.
