Martin Luther King Jr. was a major civil rights activist and leader during the Civil Rights Movement. He led many peaceful protests against segregation and was a major advocate for the civil rights of African Americans. MLK Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta Georgia (McGuire & Wheeler 2023). King attended segregated public schools and proceeded to attend Booker T Washington High School and then Morehouse College once he qualified (McGuire & Wheeler 2023). It was there that his concern with the treatment of African Americans began to fester. Not only was King studious, he was also religious as he was a Baptist minister, assisting his father in church (McGuire & Wheeler 2023). King would grow up to become one of the most influential …show more content…
They were able to exercise their voting rights and other civil liberties. Schools became desegregated, and African Americans slowly started to integrate into society as equals. We still see these changes today with more African Americans exercising their voting rights, interracial couples, multi-race public schools, and other positive social changes. Due to Martin Luther King Jr.’s achievements and accomplishments, many events, memorials, and locations have been created in order to honor and remember him. The King Center was created as a living memorial to celebrate King’s life and accomplishments. Martin Luther King Jr. Day also exists as a national holiday that is celebrated by parades all across America. It is safe to say that Martin Luther King Jr. will be remembered for the rest of history. Aside from the memorials and events in Martin Luther King Jr.’s name, King has influenced the way people advocate for social rights and justice in the present day. Because of King’s method of peaceful protesting, many movements today have been done peacefully in order to achieve their goal. One notable example is the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Black Lives Matter was created in 2012 after a black teenager was killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman (Gallow 2023). The goal of BLM is to advocate against police brutality against black people, but has since expanded to criminal justice reform, health care equality, equal education, and racism in general (Gallow 2023). A majority of BLM’s protests are peaceful marches. Recently, however, BLM has had a number of violent protests in wake of George Floyd’s passing. While these methods are not what King taught, the fire to fight against racial injustice and police brutality is still extremely noticeable within BLM’s protests. This is how Martin Luther King Jr. has affected present America. When it comes