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Martin Luther King Jr.'s Influence On The Civil Rights Movement

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Martin Luther King Jr. and his influence on the Civil Rights Movement Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the greatest leaders in the American civil rights movement. He set an example that should be followed by any group looking for a change, even today. Martin Luther King Jr. has done many great things through his lifetime in order to positively affect the world. In order to illustrate how Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement was successful, Americans must understand why he believed in Civil Rights, the movement itself, the aftermath and how it applies to today's ethnic movements. First we will look at why MLK wanted to change through peaceful protesting. Martin Luther King Jr. started his Civil Rights journey on January 15, 1929 when he was …show more content…
On December 5, 1955 the Montgomery Bus Boycott began after the arrest of Rosa Parks. The Montgomery Improvement Association was formed, King was unanimously voted the president of the group. Over a year after the speech was given, (February of 1956) a lawsuit was filed in the Federal District Court asking if Montgomery's travel laws were unconstitutional. That same month, King and other Bus Boycott leaders were put in jail for preventing the operation of the bus line business. Finally in November 1956 the US Supreme Court declared segregation on public transportation to be unconstitutional and King is released from jail. On February 14, 1957 the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was formed in New Orleans and King was elected president. In February and March of 1959, King and his wife travelled to India to study Gandhi's use of nonviolence. (Martin Luther King and.) On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, promoting equality and the abolition of whites only areas. (Atkinson.) MLK wanted to move forward from America’s past of segregation and racism. “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate the valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.” (Martin Luther King I.) King wanted to put an end to segregation and all that comes with it in order to bring light to America’s dark times. Martin Luther King Jr. may have been popular among African Americans during the time but many people did not like his

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