KEY INFLUENCES ON MARTIN LUTHER KING –Mahatma Ghandi, Christianity and Henry Thoreaus.
Born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Growing up surrounded by the segregation of African American’s and White people, Martin Luther King realised the severity of discrimination throughout his culture. One day, Martin and his father went to buy some new shoes. The clerk told them to go to the back of the store. "We do not serve coloured in the front of the store," he said. Martin and his father proceeded to leave the store, as they knew that this was not respectful treatment. Martin's mother told him, "even though some people make you feel bad or angry, you should not show it. You are as good as anyone else." King was twenty-six …show more content…
Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.”
Henry David Thoreau
King stated that he was first introduced to the concept of nonviolence when he read Henry David Thoreau’s Essay on Civil Disobedience as a freshman at Morehouse College. Having grown up in Atlanta and witnessed segregation and racism every day, King was ‘‘fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system’’ (King 1973).
It was with a strong Christian faith in hand that Martin Luther King embarked upon his formal education. He said that Henry David Thoreau's essay, "Civil Disobedience," was his "first intellectual contact with the theory of nonviolence and resistance." It was primarily Thoreau's concept of refusing to cooperate with an evil system which intrigued King.
In 1963 King was chosen as “Man of the Year” by Time Magazine. In 1964, King received an even higher honour – The Nobel Peace
Born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Growing up surrounded by the segregation of African American’s and White people, Martin Luther King realised the severity of discrimination throughout his culture. One day, Martin and his father went to buy some new shoes. The clerk told them to go to the back of the store. "We do not serve coloured in the front of the store," he said. Martin and his father proceeded to leave the store, as they knew that this was not respectful treatment. Martin's mother told him, "even though some people make you feel bad or angry, you should not show it. You are as good as anyone else." King was twenty-six …show more content…
Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.”
Henry David Thoreau
King stated that he was first introduced to the concept of nonviolence when he read Henry David Thoreau’s Essay on Civil Disobedience as a freshman at Morehouse College. Having grown up in Atlanta and witnessed segregation and racism every day, King was ‘‘fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system’’ (King 1973).
It was with a strong Christian faith in hand that Martin Luther King embarked upon his formal education. He said that Henry David Thoreau's essay, "Civil Disobedience," was his "first intellectual contact with the theory of nonviolence and resistance." It was primarily Thoreau's concept of refusing to cooperate with an evil system which intrigued King.
In 1963 King was chosen as “Man of the Year” by Time Magazine. In 1964, King received an even higher honour – The Nobel Peace