Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Role In Civil Disobedience

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “ We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools ” ("Martin Bio”). Meaning if we do not learn to live together we are always going to be at war, and that both sides will die. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s involvement in civil disobedience was due to personal influences, he chose to participate in civil disobedience to protest segregation., and he did achieve success using this controversial method of standing up for what he strongly believes to be right. To understand Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s role in civil disobedience, one must first have knowledge of his personal life. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15 1929 in Atlantic, Georgia. He had an older sister, Willie Christine, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. When King was twelve years old his grandmother, Jennie, died of a heart attack. King was at a parade even though his parents told him not to. Distraught at the news, young Martin jumped from a second story window at home. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. chose to participate in civil disobedience to protest segregation. One of Kings protest was the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Bus Boycott began on March 2, 1955, when a fithteen years old girl refused to give her seat to a white man on a Montgomery city bus in violation of

Martin Luther King Jr. did achieve success using civil disobedience. They removed the segregated public transportation law allowing anyone to sit anywhere. By 1960, King was getting national notoriety. King took seventy five students into a local store and asked for counter service but was denied. King refused to leave and they arrested him and 36 other people. The mayor negotiated a truce and charges were dropped, but King was sent to prison for violating his probation. When a presidential candidate John F. Kennedy made a phone call to Kings wife. John F. Kennedy told his concerns for King’s treatment and was soon