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Emmanuel Mendoza Garcia

Ms. Holan

English tres

05/09/2017

Martin Luther King Jr.

Everyone does something in their community to make a change in the world, but there is

a man that helped his African American people a lot. His name was Martin Luther King Jr. also

known as MLK. He is a very important person in the African ethnicity, who is also honorable

and highly respected due to his bravery and accomplishments.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, born into a family who

has honored the Baptist church. He was the second child born, but first boy in the family. His

father was reverend Martin Luther King, and his mom was Alberta Williams King. He married

Coretta Scott of Marion, a woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. He married

her on on June 18, 1953. The marriage was performed in the Scotts home by Rev. King, Sr.

Later on they had children.

Martin Luther Kings first child was Yolanda Denise born on November 17, 1955, in

Montgomery, Alabama, the second child was Martin Luther III born on October 23, 1957, also

born in Montgomery, Alabama. Their third and fourth child were born in Atlanta, Georgia named

Dexter Scott born, January 30, 1961. Arriving two years later their last child was born, her name

was Bernice Albertine born on March 28, 1963.

Before becoming the most influential person in the United states and a good husband he

was a normal man. When he was a kid, his siblings and him would take piano lessons from their

mother. They would also enjoy playing sports such as football and baseball. When he was a kid,
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like any other child's dream, he wanted to become a firefighter. His grandfather began the family

long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta (1914-1931).

Through all his lifetime he grew up to the idea that black and white people were different.

He knew that if a black family went to a restaurant they had to sit in a different section than

whites, or how the colored people weren't allowed to enter a whites-only restaurant. He also

knew that an African American child would not receive the same benefits and education as a

white child would. In a colored school, the kids weren't getting the same quality of materials and

courses, some of the kids did not even learn how to read. Compared to an all whites school they

would all get new books, desks, teachers that actually knew what they were teaching and

basically they given a better education than colored kids. The Jim Crow Laws was what kept the

colored people and whites apart from one another.

In 1969, King launched a voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama, where 355 out of

15,000 black residents had managed to register to vote. The following year he moved his family

to Chicago to focus on discrimination in housing and employment in northern cities. He was

known for his peaceful protests. He wanted a protest where there was no violence and colored

people would be taken seriously (aka nonviolent resistance). He wanted colored people to have

the same rights any white person would have, without being discriminated or beaten by the color

of their skin. He wanted to show that African Americans were capable of freedom and having the

same rights like any other white citizen.

Martin Luther King Jr. also fought for the rights of African Americans on buses. Rosa

Parks was a woman who rode the bus to get back to her house after she got off work. She sat in

an all whites- seat only knowing she was not suppose to. A white man was bothered by this

that he told the bus driver causing a big scene telling her to move away and sit somewhere else
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since she was a colored woman she had no right. Parks didn't move, causing the white man to

call the authorities to have her arrested. Every colored person had heard about this,which started

a huge rage. MLK wanted to fight for this kind of injustice. Originally, the same situation had

happened but with a pregnant young lady, but she actually obeyed and stood the whole way

home.

He didn't want colored kids to suffer the same way hehim and other colored people did.

He wanted to make a change in his community for his people. King Jr. wanted to be heard all

around the United States and make a world wide non-violent movement so the people colored

people could all have equal rights as any other person would have, including the stop of

discrimination and racism. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew that they were all the

same inside and just having a different skin color wasnt going to change anyone.. Each one had

their own qualities and specialities.

August 28th 1963 at a historic march in Washington DC for jobs, freedom, racial equality

and the end of discrimination Martin Luther King delivered his I have a dream speech. Never

knowing this speech would change the future of many people, it did. Black peopleThey gained

their freedom, equal rights, same education, houses, and employments like every other white

person. There werewas people who weren't happy about this causing a rage, but they couldn't do

anything about it.

October 14th 1964 Martin Luther King Jr. became the youngest man to receive a Nobel

Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. He was arrested so many times

because of his racial movement protest, but that didnt stop him from fighting for what he

wanted. All whites wanted him to stop with all of this, thinking that African Americans didn't

have any rights not knowing things were going to change.

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Martin did not focus on being famous or being a rebel all he wanted was for everyone to

be equal. He earned a sociology degree from Mmorehouse Ccollege. He thrived in all of his

classes was a valedictorian of his class in 1951 and he was elected body president of his class.

He caused his father a lot of trouble by drinking and playing pool while in college. He was

accepted to many colleges but ended up going to Boston.

By the end of the Birmingham campaign, him and his supporters were making plans for a

massive demonstration on the nation's capital composed of multiple organizations all asking for a

peaceful change.

His struggle continued into 1960. There was a horrific mark were whites and blacks were

fighting, King wasn't in the march but it had been televised all over the United States. They

planned a second march but it had been cancelled because of the people's rage. A third one was

planned it having it almost turn out like the first one but King made sure that nothing bad

happened he told people to kneel in prayer and turn their backs. By this he lost many young

African American protestors since all they wanted to do was fight. King wasn't up to that so he

decided to keep going with people who did want a change in the right way.

Later he expressed his concerns towards the vietnam war, believing that the americans

involvement in Vietnam was politically untenable and the government's conduct of the war

discriminatory to the poor. He warned the government to focus on the poor the economy the

people of the United States of America.

After years of fighting the protest, almost death, and riots Martin Luther King was able to

make a change in the american nation. He helped all colored people change their rights,and their

lifestyle. He also helped generations think that everyone is equal and we are all the same rights
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no matter our race, gender, lifestyle etc. Instead of keeping the money he had received he

decided to give it to the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968 he was standing on a hotel's balcony when he was shot

by Earl Ray who was apprehended after two months. The killing sparked riots and

demonstrations. After all of this he was granted a day in January (since this was the month he

was born in). Not all of the states celebrated this day but by the 2000s all of the states decided to

celebrate this national day because of all the civil rights movement and all the change he brought

to the colored people and his community.

King Jrs. life was difficult not only for him, but for his family too. He became a savior

for his people by helping them achieve their goals and having all the rights they deserved. Martin

Luther King Jr. always did non-violent protests, which helped him achieve what he wanted even

through all the struggles he went through. Civil right activists never gave up their fight even if

they were put down many times.

Works cited

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

http://castle.eiu.edu/~wow/classes/fa03/mlkchildhood.html
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http://www.shmoop.com/civil-rights-black-power/martin-luther-king-jr.html

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott

http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086