Martian Luther King
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)
was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the
African-American Civil Rights Movement.[1] He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil
rights using nonviolent civil disobedience.[2] King
has become a national icon in the history of modern
American liberalism.[3]
A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career.[4] He led
the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I
Have a Dream" speech. There, he established his reputation as one
of the greatest orators in American history. He also established his reputation
as a radical, and became an object of the FBI's COINTELPRO for the rest of his life.
On October 14 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality
through nonviolence. In the next few years leading up to
his death, he expanded his focus to include poverty and the Vietnam
War—alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech
titled "Beyond Vietnam". King was planning a national occupation of Washington,
D.C., called the Poor People's Campaign.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded
the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin
Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. and beyond have
been renamed in his honor
was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the
African-American Civil Rights Movement.[1] He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil
rights using nonviolent civil disobedience.[2] King
has become a national icon in the history of modern
American liberalism.[3]
A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career.[4] He led
the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I
Have a Dream" speech. There, he established his reputation as one
of the greatest orators in American history. He also established his reputation
as a radical, and became an object of the FBI's COINTELPRO for the rest of his life.
On October 14 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality
through nonviolence. In the next few years leading up to
his death, he expanded his focus to include poverty and the Vietnam
War—alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech
titled "Beyond Vietnam". King was planning a national occupation of Washington,
D.C., called the Poor People's Campaign.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded
the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin
Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. and beyond have
been renamed in his honor
What he did
With assistance from the Quaker group the American Friends Service Committee, and inspired
by Gandhi's success with non-violent activism, King visited Gandhi's
birthplace in India in 1959.[8]:3 The trip to India affected King
in a profound way, deepening his understanding of non-violent
resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil
rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King
reflected, "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the
method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed
people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma
Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in
the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as
the law of gravitation."[8]:135–6
African American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin had studied Gandhi's teachings.[26]
Rustin counseled King to dedicate himself to the principles of non-violence,[27]
served as King's main advisor and mentor throughout his early activism,[28] and
was the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.[29]
Rustin's open homosexuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the
Communist Party USA caused many white and
African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin.[
by Gandhi's success with non-violent activism, King visited Gandhi's
birthplace in India in 1959.[8]:3 The trip to India affected King
in a profound way, deepening his understanding of non-violent
resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil
rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King
reflected, "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the
method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed
people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma
Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in
the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as
the law of gravitation."[8]:135–6
African American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin had studied Gandhi's teachings.[26]
Rustin counseled King to dedicate himself to the principles of non-violence,[27]
served as King's main advisor and mentor throughout his early activism,[28] and
was the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.[29]
Rustin's open homosexuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the
Communist Party USA caused many white and
African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin.[
Why he did it
From 1955 until his death in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr.
was the dominant leader of the US civil rights movement.
Following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, the Rev.
Dr. King believed that nonviolent protest is the most effective weapon against a
racist and unjust society. But it required rallying people to his cause. Here
are some of the most revolutionary peaceful protests King led.
-
Lasting just over a year, the Montgomery bus boycott
was a protest campaign against racial segregation on the public transit system
in Montgomery, Ala. The protest began,
on Dec. 1, 1955, after African-American Rosa Parks was arrested
for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. The next day, Dr.
King proposed a citywide boycott of public transportation at a church
meeting.
The boycott proved to be effective, causing the transit system to run a huge
deficit. After all, Montgomery’s black residents not only were the principal
boycotters, but also the bulk of the transit system’s paying customers. The
situation became so tense that members of the White Citizens' Council,
a group that opposed racial integration, firebombed King's house.
In June 1956, a federal court found that the laws in Alabama and Montgomery
requiring segregated buses were unconstitutional. However, an appeal kept
segregation intact until Dec. 20, 1956, when the US Supreme Court upheld
the district court's ruling. The boycott's official end signaled one of the
civil rights movement's first victories and made King one of its central
figures.
Andre macth
was the dominant leader of the US civil rights movement.
Following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, the Rev.
Dr. King believed that nonviolent protest is the most effective weapon against a
racist and unjust society. But it required rallying people to his cause. Here
are some of the most revolutionary peaceful protests King led.
-
Lasting just over a year, the Montgomery bus boycott
was a protest campaign against racial segregation on the public transit system
in Montgomery, Ala. The protest began,
on Dec. 1, 1955, after African-American Rosa Parks was arrested
for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. The next day, Dr.
King proposed a citywide boycott of public transportation at a church
meeting.
The boycott proved to be effective, causing the transit system to run a huge
deficit. After all, Montgomery’s black residents not only were the principal
boycotters, but also the bulk of the transit system’s paying customers. The
situation became so tense that members of the White Citizens' Council,
a group that opposed racial integration, firebombed King's house.
In June 1956, a federal court found that the laws in Alabama and Montgomery
requiring segregated buses were unconstitutional. However, an appeal kept
segregation intact until Dec. 20, 1956, when the US Supreme Court upheld
the district court's ruling. The boycott's official end signaled one of the
civil rights movement's first victories and made King one of its central
figures.
Andre macth
Politics
Actually, the Negro has been betrayed by both the Republican and the Democratic party. The Democrats have betrayed him by capitulating to the whims and caprices of the Southern Dixiecrats. The Republicans have betrayed him by capitulating to the blatant hypocrisy of reactionary right wing northern Republicans. And this coalition of southern Dixiecrats and right wing reactionary northern Republicans defeats every bill and every move towards liberal legislation in the area of civil rights.[33]Although King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he was undecided as to whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson or Dwight Eisenhower, but that "In the past I always voted the Democratic ticket."[34]It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a
Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From
its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party
has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so
succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the
four S’s: slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism.
It was the Democrats who fought to keep blacks in slavery and passed the
discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. The Democrats started the Ku Klux
Klan to lynch and terrorize blacks. The Democrats fought to prevent the passage
of every civil rights law beginning with the civil rights laws of the 1860s, and
continuing with the civil rights laws of the 1950s and 1960s.
During the civil rights era of the 1960s, Dr. King was fighting the Democrats
who stood in the school house doors, turned skin-burning fire hoses on blacks
and let loose vicious dogs. It was Republican President Dwight Eisenhower who
pushed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent troops to Arkansas to
desegregate schools. President Eisenhower also appointed Chief Justice Earl
Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court, which resulted in the 1954 Brown v. Board of
Education decision ending school segregation. Much is made of Democrat President
Harry Truman’s issuing an Executive Order in 1948 to desegregate the military.
Not mentioned is the fact that it was Eisenhower who actually took action to
effectively end segregation in the military.
Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From
its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party
has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so
succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the
four S’s: slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism.
It was the Democrats who fought to keep blacks in slavery and passed the
discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. The Democrats started the Ku Klux
Klan to lynch and terrorize blacks. The Democrats fought to prevent the passage
of every civil rights law beginning with the civil rights laws of the 1860s, and
continuing with the civil rights laws of the 1950s and 1960s.
During the civil rights era of the 1960s, Dr. King was fighting the Democrats
who stood in the school house doors, turned skin-burning fire hoses on blacks
and let loose vicious dogs. It was Republican President Dwight Eisenhower who
pushed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent troops to Arkansas to
desegregate schools. President Eisenhower also appointed Chief Justice Earl
Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court, which resulted in the 1954 Brown v. Board of
Education decision ending school segregation. Much is made of Democrat President
Harry Truman’s issuing an Executive Order in 1948 to desegregate the military.
Not mentioned is the fact that it was Eisenhower who actually took action to
effectively end segregation in the military.