Short biography of martin luther
Occupation: Minister and activist. Died: 4 April Best known for: Campaigning for the rights of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the s and s.
Biography of john knox
Black people had different schools, toilets and even sections of the bus to white people. They were also denied the right to vote in elections. King was heavily influenced by his father, who was a prominent Baptist minister and civil rights activist. He attended segregated public schools in Georgia and excelled academically, skipping grades 9 and 12 before enrolling in Morehouse College at the age of He graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology in During his time at Morehouse College, King was exposed to the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and became deeply committed to nonviolent resistance as a means of achieving social change.
King's education not only provided him with the necessary knowledge and skills to become a successful leader, but it also shaped his moral and ethical beliefs that would guide his actions in the fight for civil rights. His journey towards becoming a leader in the fight for civil rights began when he joined the Montgomery Improvement Association MIA and was chosen to lead the boycott against segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama.
King's leadership during the boycott brought national attention to the issue of segregation and inspired others to join the cause.
Kadri roshi biography of martin luther king day 2025
His powerful speeches and nonviolent protests were instrumental in bringing about change and challenging the status quo. Following the success of the Montgomery bus boycott, King co-founded the SCLC, a civil rights organization that aimed to coordinate and support nonviolent protests throughout the South. Through his leadership of the SCLC, King organized and participated in numerous marches, sit-ins, and other forms of peaceful protest to fight against segregation and discrimination.
King's unwavering commitment to nonviolent resistance and his powerful message of equality and justice propelled him to become a key figure in the civil rights movement. He continued to use his platform to advocate for racial equality, even in the face of adversity and violence. Flush with victory, African American civil rights leaders recognized the need for a national organization to help coordinate their efforts.
In January , King, Ralph Abernathy , and 60 ministers and civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to harness the moral authority and organizing power of Black churches. The SCLC helped conduct nonviolent protests to promote civil rights reform. The SCLC felt the best place to start to give African Americans a voice was to enfranchise them in the voting process.
King met with religious and civil rights leaders and lectured all over the country on race-related issues. By , King was gaining national exposure. He returned to Atlanta to become co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church but also continued his civil rights efforts. His next activist campaign was the student-led Greensboro Sit-In movement.
The movement quickly gained traction in several other cities. King encouraged students to continue to use nonviolent methods during their protests. By August , the sit-ins had successfully ended segregation at lunch counters in 27 southern cities. On October 19, , King and 75 students entered a local department store and requested lunch-counter service but were denied.
When they refused to leave the counter area, King and 36 others were arrested. Soon after, King was imprisoned for violating his probation on a traffic conviction. The news of his imprisonment entered the presidential campaign when candidate John F. Kennedy expressed his concern over the harsh treatment Martin received for the traffic ticket, and political pressure was quickly set in motion.
King was soon released. In the spring of , King organized a demonstration in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. With entire families in attendance, city police turned dogs and fire hoses on demonstrators. King was jailed, along with large numbers of his supporters. The event drew nationwide attention.
However, King was personally criticized by Black and white clergy alike for taking risks and endangering the children who attended the demonstration. The demonstration was the brainchild of labor leader A. On August 28, , the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom drew an estimated , people in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial.
It remains one of the largest peaceful demonstrations in American history. The rising tide of civil rights agitation that had culminated in the March on Washington produced a strong effect on public opinion. This resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of , authorizing the federal government to enforce desegregation of public accommodations and outlawing discrimination in publicly owned facilities.
But the Selma march quickly turned violent as police with nightsticks and tear gas met the demonstrators as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. The attack was televised, broadcasting the horrifying images of marchers being bloodied and severely injured to a wide audience. Not to be deterred, activists attempted the Selma-to-Montgomery march again.
This time, King made sure he was part of it. Because a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order on another march, a different approach was taken. On March 9, , a procession of 2, marchers, both Black and white, set out once again to cross the Pettus Bridge and confronted barricades and state troopers. Instead of forcing a confrontation, King led his followers to kneel in prayer, then they turned back.
Johnson pledged his support and ordered U. Army troops and the Alabama National Guard to protect the protestors. On March 21, , approximately 2, people began a march from Selma to Montgomery. On March 25, the number of marchers, which had grown to an estimated 25, gathered in front of the state capitol where King delivered a televised speech.
Five months after the historic peaceful protest, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. Standing at the Lincoln Memorial, he emphasized his belief that someday all men could be brothers to the ,strong crowd. Six years before he told the world of his dream, King stood at the same Lincoln Memorial steps as the final speaker of the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom.
Dismayed by the ongoing obstacles to registering Black voters, King urged leaders from various backgrounds—Republican and Democrat, Black and white—to work together in the name of justice. Speaking at the University of Oslo in Norway, King pondered why he was receiving the Nobel Prize when the battle for racial justice was far from over, before acknowledging that it was in recognition of the power of nonviolent resistance.
He then compared the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement to the ground crew at an airport who do the unheralded-yet-necessary work to keep planes running on schedule. At the end of the bitterly fought Selma-to-Montgomery march, King addressed a crowd of 25, supporters from the Alabama State Capitol. Offering a brief history lesson on the roots of segregation, King emphasized that there would be no stopping the effort to secure full voting rights, while suggesting a more expansive agenda to come with a call to march on poverty.
Indeed, in his autobiography, he stated:. Yet, Coretta felt strongly that her role, and the role of women in general in the civil rights movement, had long been "marginalized" and overlooked, according to The Guardian. As early as , Corretta wrote in an article published in the British women's magazine New Lady:. Historians and observers have noted that King did not support gender equality in the civil rights movement.
Kadri roshi biography of martin luther king
Parks' December 1, , arrest presented the perfect opportunity to make a case for desegregating the transit system. Ralph Abernathy, a close friend of King, contacted King and other clergymen to plan a citywide bus boycott. The group drafted demands and stipulated that no Black person would ride the buses on December 5.
That day, nearly 20, Black citizens refused bus rides.
Biography of martin luther king: Martin Luther King, Jr., was a visionary leader and advocate for equality who spearheaded the civil rights movement in America through nonviolent protests, inspiring lasting change and leaving an enduring legacy.
When the boycott ended days later, Montgomery's transit system was nearly bankrupt. Additionally, on November 23, in the case of Gayle v. Browder , the U. Supreme Court ruled that "Racially segregated transportation systems enforced by the government violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment," according to Oyez, an online archive of U.
The court also cited the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka , where it had ruled in that "segregation of public education based solely on race violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment," according to Oyez. On December 20, , the Montgomery Improvement Association voted to end the boycott. Buoyed by success, the movement's leaders met in January in Atlanta and formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to coordinate nonviolent protests through Black churches.
King was elected president and held the post until his death.
Kadri roshi biography of martin luther king jr
In early , King's first book, "Stride Toward Freedom," which detailed the Montgomery bus boycott, was published. While signing books in Harlem, New York, King was stabbed by a Black woman with a mental health condition. As he recovered, he visited India's Gandhi Peace Foundation in February to refine his protest strategies.
In the book, greatly influenced by Gandhi's movement and teachings, he laid six principles, explaining that nonviolence:. Is not a method for cowards; it does resist : King noted that "Gandhi often said that if cowardice is the only alternative to violence, it is better to fight. Does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding : Even in conducting a boycott, for example, the purpose is "to awaken a sense of moral shame in the opponent" and the goal is one of "redemption and reconciliation," King said.
Is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who happen to be doing the evil: "It is evil that the nonviolent resister seeks to defeat, not the persons victimized by evil," King wrote. The fight is not one of Black people versus White people, but to achieve "but a victory for justice and the forces of light," King wrote. Is a willingness to accept suffering without retaliation, to accept blows from the opponent without striking back: Again citing Gandhi, King wrote: "The nonviolent resister is willing to accept violence if necessary, but never to inflict it.
He does not seek to dodge jail. Avoids not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit: Saying that you win through love not hate, King wrote: "The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent, but he also refuses to hate him. Is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice: The nonviolent person "can accept suffering without retaliation" because the resister knows that "love" and "justice" will win in the end.
Fred Shuttlesworth of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in a nonviolent campaign to end segregation and force Birmingham, Alabama, businesses to hire Black people. King was thrown into jail. King spent eight days in the Birmingham jail as a result of this arrest but used the time to write "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," affirming his peaceful philosophy.
The brutal images galvanized the nation. Money poured in to support the protesters; White allies joined demonstrations. By summer, thousands of public facilities nationwide were integrated, and companies began to hire Black people. The resulting political climate pushed the passage of civil rights legislation.