Martin Luther King Jr Research Paper

Daijon Weaver

Mr. Grosse

Research Paper

14 February 2018

Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the middle child between his older sister Christine and his younger brother Alfred Daniel Williams. Their parents are Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Martin Sr. was a pastor and Alberta was a former teacher. Between the two parents, Martin Sr. was the strict parent while Alberta is the more laid back parent. Martin Jr. grew up in a good and safe environment where they were well protected in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood in Atlanta. Though this environment was secured, Martin still was hit hard by racism around him. His father fought racism because he believed that

began with an event called the Montgomery Bus Boycott. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks used the bus to travel home after a long day of work. She was sitting in the front of the colored section. J. Fred Blake, the bus driver, asked 4 African Americans, one of them being Rosa Parks, of they can give up their seats to some white people, since the white section seats were full. The 3 African Americans moved, but Rosa Parks refused. She was arrested and fined $10 and $4 for court fees. When arrested, Parks called E.D. Nixon, a significant black leader in this time, to help her get out of jail. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was announced on December 4, 1955. As many as 40,000 African Americans boycott the buses the next day. Martin Luther King Jr. was elected as the president of the boycott on December 5th, 1955 in the afternoon during the Montgomery Improvement Association meeting. His first speech as the president implied that the blacks want nothing more or nothing less, but freedom and justice. The demands did not ask for change in the segregation laws, but five women sued the Montgomery U.S. District Courts, hoping to ban segregation on buses. 75 percent of bus riders were African Americans, but the city will not meet the protesters wants. Most black residents simply walked to their destination and back home. Others used the African American driven taxis, which charged 10 cents. King Jr. will organize meetings with other black leaders to keep the boycott

and the SCLC were called to go to Memphis Tennessee to help out on a sanitation workers strike. On April 3, 1968, he gave a speech at the Mason Temple Church. On April 4, 1968, that evening, he was shot by James Earl Ray, who had shot King Jr. with a sniper. King Jr. was rushed to the hospital and died an hour later. His death shocked people across the country and a plethora of people began rioting in more than 100 cities around the country. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968, saying it will top off King Jr.’s legacy and finished what he worked so hard for during his lifetime. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most widely known important leaders in history and even though he is not alive, his name will always live on. In 1983, Ronald Reagan signed a bill, making a national holiday for King Jr. which is today known as MLK Day which is celebrated on the third Monday of January. Martin Luther King Jr. will forever be an important figure in U.S.