How Did Martin Luther King Impact The Civil Rights Movement

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As anti-segregationist activists became more angry, protests became more intense and dangerous. Martin Luther King Jr. led a protest with an effort to get on TV so others could see the brutality the whites were inflicting on the African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr., the SCLC went to Birmingham, Alabama, the most segregated city in the South. Activists protested nonviolently with sit-ins and protest marches. After the courts ordered demonstrations illegal, Martin Luther King, Jr. violated it and joined in on the protest. As a result, he was arrested, but in jail wrote arguably most remembered letter in history. In the letter, he wrote about the effect racial discrimination had on his kids. After he was released the demonstrations continued more frequently and kids joined. …show more content…

Soon after, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC initiated a campaign in Selma, Alabama to pressure the federal government to enact a voting rights legislation. On a day referred to as “Bloody Sunday”, state troopers attacked the marchers. This brutality was yet again also seen by white Americans due through television. Days after, President Johnson mandated a federal voting rights law. Not much long after the voting rights law was enacted, the NAACP, SCLC, SNCC and others organized the “March on Washington”. This public relations effort was constituted to pressure Congress to pass a civil rights bill. The highlight of the March was when Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke and gave his “I Have a Dream speech” that spoke to civil rights activists and encouraged them to not give