In addition to his respect for human life, King had great faith in himself to affect a change. Polster (2001) stresses that heroes’ faith in themselves generates their effectiveness. In other words, when faced with a negative situation, heroes do not stop until they have turned that situation into a positive one. For example, King knew someone had to do something to spark the drive to obtain African Americans their civil rights. In 1955, the spark came in the form of Rosa Parks, a veteran civil rights activist. Parks, an African American citizen, was arrested because she refused to give up her seat to a white American citizen on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. King was inspired by her protest and was confident that he could use non-violent
