Politics - Martin Luther King Jr.

Michael Luther King (later changed to Martin) was born on January 15, 1929 to pastor Martin Luther King Sr. and former school teacher Alberta King. King attended local grammar and high schools in Atlanta. In 1944 King enrolled at Morehouse College - in Atlanta. Not planning on entering the ministry, King met Dr. Benjamin Mays, a scholar whose manner and bearing, convinced King that a religious career could be intellectually satisfying as well (The Life of Martin Luther King Jr). King moved back to the South and married Coretta Scott and became a pastor at a Baptist church. King made his first mark on the civil-rights movement, here, by mobilizing the black community servings a 382- day boycott of the city's bus line (The Life of Martin Luther King Jr). During this time King dealt with harassment, violence, and even a bombing of his house; because of this the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional. King summoned together a number of black leaders in 1957 and laid the groundwork for the organization now know as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and began helping other communities organize their own protests against discrimination (The Life of Martin Luther King Jr). Three years later during a protest, about segregation of department store facilities, in Birmingham; police used violent tactics on the protesters. Martin Luther King was arrested and while in jail he wrote “Letters from a Birmingham Jail.” When King was let out, later that year, he was a prime speaker at The March on Washington. King’s speech at the March on Washington became one of the most famous speeches today. He used the “I have a dream” theme he’d used on prior occasions, drawing on both “the American dream” and religious themes, speaking of an America where his children “will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character” (Ross). Time magazine named him as its Person of the Year for 1963. A few months later he was named recipient of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize (The Life of Martin Luther King Jr). While lending support for a sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated April 4, 1968 on his balcony at the Lorraine Motel.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects individuals against employment discrimination on the basis of race and color, as well as national origin, sex, and religion (Bal). The 1960’s marked the end of racial discrimination, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 also made it easier for Southern African Americans to vote, go to theaters, restaurants, hotels, and many other public places. Title VII made it unlawful to discriminate against any individual in regard to recruiting, hiring and promoting, transfer, work assignments, performance measurements, the work environment, job training, discipline and discharge, wages and benefits, or any other term, condition, or privilege of employment (Race/Color Discrimination).

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas and legacy still lives on today, whether it be through books, movies, or stories. King has and will always influence many people today through what he taught us about racial justice, how to deal with situations in a nonviolent way, and to accept everyone. King is a great way to represent the quote, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened,” without King it would have taken a longer time for discrimination to be brought down.