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How Did Martin Luther King Support The Civil Rights Movement

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929. Dr. King was a Baptist minister and a civil-rights activist. Dr. King played a major part in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the United States, the creation of the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Dr. King presented the public with many inspirational speeches and left a legacy of quotes. Dr. King took after his father who was strongly against any form of racism and segregation because his father viewed it as an affront to God’s will. With the lasting impression made on Dr. King, he took his father’s views to heart, and thus began Dr. Kings lasting impression on the world. Dr. King began his movements with Edgar Daniel Nixon, head of the Montgomery …show more content…

King joined forces with Ralph Abernathy, sixty ministers, and civil rights activists in January of 1957. These sixty-two members united together to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, through this they hoped to organize the power of the black churches. The members intended to help conduct non-violent protests to advocate civil rights reformation. This organization felt the best starting point would fight for the right for African-Americans to vote in elections. In February of 1958, the organization met in mass meetings to register the black voters throughout key southern …show more content…

King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, he returned to Atlanta, Georgia, where he joined his father as a co-pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Dr. King continued his civil rights efforts, the next being in a local department store with seventy-five students. King and the students requested lunch-counter service, but were denied, and when they refused to leave the counter they were all arrested. Knowing the impact Dr. King had left on the community, the mayor realized keeping him imprisoned would hurt the city’s reputation. With that in mind, the mayor negotiated a truce and the charges were dropped, but while out, Dr. King was imprisoned for violation of his probation. News of Dr. King’s imprisonment leaked into the presidential election of 1960, and candidate John F. Kennedy expressed his concerns for the unjust treatment of Dr. King. Once political pressure was added to the already uneasy community, Dr. King was soon released. Three years after these encounters with the law, Dr. King would find him presenting one of the most famous speeches to the

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513 Words | 3 Pages

Imagine you’re living back in 1963, it’s the year of change, for the better. There’s a man, Martin Luther King Jr., who is one of the most prominent figures in the Civil Rights movements. He has two famous works, First, the Letter from Birmingham Jail. from back in August; a powerful response King gave after reading the criticisms of the clergymen of Birmingham. Second, there is the “I Have a Dream” speech from The March on Washington.

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690 Words | 3 Pages

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was held in prison for his actions to have the African American activist movement parade in the city of Birmingham even though he had no permit. The eight Clergymen wrote King a letter stating that what he did was wrong and why it was “unwise and untimely” (Alvarado 174). While being wrongly imprisoned King wrote back stating why he took the actions that he did to convince the town of Birmingham and the nation to stand up segregation. In the letter, King tries to persuade the Clergymen to see that what he did was right and needed while also defending his actions. King went to Birmingham on April 12, 1963 to protest against the cruel mistreatment of African Americans in the city of Birmingham.

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563 Words | 3 Pages

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy” (King, Jr.). Martin Luther King Jr. exceeded this “measure of a man” during his civil rights acts as a strong soldier in a very volatile time. During this time of “challenge and controversy” King made himself heard in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In some of his civil rights acts that occurred in Birmingham, resulted in him ending up in jail. During his time in jail, he wrote his also famous “Letter From Birmingham Jail.”

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1387 Words | 6 Pages

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail for protesting the treatment of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama. Incarcerated, he wrote a letter in response to the Clergymen’s letter in which he wrote his thoughts and justified what many saw as an act that was “unwise and untimely” (King 2). King believed that people were born with the right to freedom and that he was trying to regain that right even though he continued to put it off. He finally saw that he could put it off no longer because of the broken promises and the time he was wasting. His being in Birmingham was brought by the injustice he believed to be there that was far greater than any other place.

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1423 Words | 6 Pages

Birmingham, Alabama was a tough place to live as an African-American in the early 1960’s due to social injustice and segregation. Violent crimes against African-Americans occurred regularly, and they happened with few people standing up for African-Americans. Shortly after arriving in Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. found himself in Birmingham Jail after standing up for African-Americans by peacefully protesting segregation. There were many critics of Dr. King at the time, and a few of them were clergymen who wrote an open letter criticizing the civil rights demonstrations. Dr. King responded to those clergymen from his jail cell in a persuasive manner.

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907 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout American history, many African Americans did not have their proper rights. During the 1960s, many key individuals used their voices in favor of this, such as Martin Luther King Jr. In "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and "I Have a Dream" Dr. King uses multiple rhetorical devices to provoke people to fight for justice. Dr. King’s decision to use his personal experience throughout the “Letter from Birmingham” helped inspire the children and students to march and protest. As he is jailed in Birmingham, he wrote a letter addressing the eight clergymen as well as to bring words of inspiration to the people on the outside.

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King’s letter served as almost like a cry for justice and for immediate change. Analyzing both of their texts and realizing who they were during this era shows how Washington’s pathway to racial uplift and King’s demand for civil disobedience gives insight into their approach to the fight for equality. Their words were not only a reflection of their times and the era they were in, but their voices and words were also a tool for a giant leap to the progress of transformative change. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail was a defining moment in the civil rights movement. Crafted in the midst of intense struggle, it was a rebuttal to critics and a broader call to address injustice.

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1047 Words | 5 Pages

In the conglomeration of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's, two powerful leaders, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., emerged with the help of their contrasting ideologies to alleviate the malice that their African American peers had been experiencing for the past century. Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia to a wholesome Christian family. He was African American and well known and respected in the community. While leading multiple protests and movements, he took inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, who was extremely influential for his use of non violence and love to fight injustice. Soon, before America knew it, Mr. King would take America by storm during the Civil Rights Movement and become known as one of the most

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959 Words | 4 Pages

King was arrested and put into jail during anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Alabama; he then goes on to write ‘Letter From Birmingham City Jail’ stating his argument that individuals have moral duty to disobey unjust laws. On August 28th, 1963, King and fellow leaders of the civil rights movement put together a big march for equal rights in Washington, DC. With a huge crowd of over 200,000 followers, the march protesting racial discrimination in employment, racial separation in schools, and they demanded minimum wage for all works. It was the biggest gathering in Washington, DC, where one of the one of the world’s most legendary speeches was given by Dr. King. Titled, “I Have A Dream”, Dr. King calls to put an end to racism in America and he also called for equal civil and economic rights.

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1394 Words | 6 Pages

Martin Luther King Jr. was placed under arrest and was tried to be contained, but nothing stopped him. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail and in his I Have a Dream speech, he spoke/wrote words that provoked, calmed and inspired many others to join/contribute to the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King’s words in his Letter From Birmingham Jail provoked many different feelings for many different people. Some who already supported the Civil Rights Movement were provoked by feelings that allowed them to take action, while those who didn’t support the movement were angered by the fact that their actions were being exposed publicly. For instance, MLK stated how “You [being the clergymen from Alabama] deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham.

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935 Words | 4 Pages

Martin Luther King Jr. was a reformer, activist, and a revolutionary. King was a Baptist minister and civil rights leader, and his legacy of remaining steadfast in his attempt and commitment to the transformation of American society will forever reverberate throughout history. He is best known for his nonviolent approaches to the injustice and oppression of blacks and challenging the church. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929, to Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams. His family was deep rooted in the African American Baptist church and community.

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476 Words | 2 Pages

Dr. King knew that his dream of equality was more important than the status quo. Dr. King never accepted that just because things were a certain way in his time, that is was the correct way. He never accepted the injustice that was happening around him and thus chose to change his fate and the fate of others like him. Dr. Kings capacity for personal growth, his development for potential and the freedom he had in choosing his destiny exemplify the humanistic idea of

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659 Words | 3 Pages

Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. was an amazing Civil Rights Activist, from Mr. King’s childhood and education, leading the Civil Rights movement, and from the speech he gave, he was a good man. Mr. Martin was a very good man, he was a baptist minister and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he was the most prominent African American leader in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He lost his life trying to be better lives of African American people. Martin Luther King Jr. came to this earth on January 25, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. King was the first son of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King.

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807 Words | 4 Pages

Martin Luther King, Jr. originally born as Michael King Jr, was born on January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta Georgia to his father Michael “Martin” Luther King Sr., a Baptist minister, and his mother Alberta Williams-King. Martin Luther King Jr., also became a Baptist minister and later a social activist who led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid-1950’s until his death by assassination on April 4th, 1968. Dr. King died far too young at the age of thirty-nine. King was the main activist behind the end of legal segregation as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which practiced non-violence in everything they did, including the March on Washington in 1963. He is most known for his

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1033 Words | 5 Pages

(Wernsing, 2008) Dr. King was an ethical and unbiased leader. He fought for equality of African-American. After Dr. King’s visit to India, he was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi for his will to fight for the people using non-violence. His speeches always reached out in a positive way to the audience. (Rao,

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