Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil Rights Activist

January 15, 1929 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

April 4, 1968 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.

Coretta Scott King (1953–1968)

Martin Luther King Junior was a leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. While fighting against injustice meted to the African-Americans, he carefully shunned violence. His ideas were based on Christian doctrines but for operational techniques he looked towards Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent movement. His first major campaign was Montgomery Bus Boycott. It not only led to the abolition of racial segregation on Montgomery public transport system, but also turned King Jr. into a national figure and the fiercest spokesperson of civil rights movement. Subsequently, he led many other nonviolent campaigns and gave many inspiring speeches. Later, he expanded the ambit of his movement and started fighting for equal employment opportunity. His ‘March to Washington for Jobs and Freedom’ was one such campaign. In his short life, he was arrested twenty-nine times. He dreamt that one day every human being would be judged by his ability, not by the color of his skin. He died from a white fanatic’s bullet at the age of thirty-nine.

Add date: 2021-09-11 20:10