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As an engaged leader he inspired thousands of people, influenced his opponents ND guided the Civil Rights Movement to achieve its goal. He was an authentic leader with exceptional values, he was honest, caring, sincere, loyal and with a great sense of integrity. Besides Dry. King was always very sensible with the ability to clearly state his ideas and thoughts surrounding peace and equality at all times. He was an exemplary leader and lived an exemplary life. L. Dry. Martin Luther King Jar. Biography Dry. Martin Luther King was born on January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Martin was the middle child his parents were the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sir. And Alberta Williams King, his older sister was Christine and younger brother Alfred. His actual real name was Michael Luther King, but he was renamed “Martin” when he was about 6 years old. When the family traveled to Europe in 1934 and visited Germany. His father soon changed both of their names to Martin Luther in honor of the German Protestant leader Martin Luther (waking/Martin Luther King). Dry. King’s education is one of the normal sorts for a child growing up in the mid sass’s.
He went through the regular educational system; he attended segregated public schools in Georgia. Dry. Martin Luther King was always an above average tuned. He received excellent grades which granted him admittance to Morehouse College an entire year earlier than expected. Also, he skipped the ninth grade entirely and became a freshman in college at the age of fifteen. By 1948 he received a Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated.
After three years of theological study at Crower Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded with Bachelors of Divinity in 1951. Then he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. (monopolize. Org) During his studies at Boston University, Dry. King became a minister in the Benzene Baptist Church in 1948. Also during this time he met Correct Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic talents. London: Daily Telegram). Dry. King married Correct Scott, on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents’ house in her hometown of Hibernia, Alabama. They had four children; Holland King, Martin Luther King Ill, Dexter Scott King, and Bernice King. By 1954 Dry. King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama when he was only twenty-five years old (Fuller). He was a dedicated father and a pastor during this time. Dry. King was a big admirer of Sandhog’s success approach of non-violent activism. He had the chance to visit Sandhog’s birthplace in India, this trip affected Dry.
King in a profound way, deepening his understanding of non-violent resistance and his commitment to America’s struggle for civil rights. Dry. King soon began his unbelievable career as a full-time civil rights activist ready to lead African Americans towards true equality and away from the societal sews that plagued them on a daily basis. * Montgomery Bus Boycott incident, 1955 Dry. King was successful early in his life as an activist by organizing and being a key player in the Montgomery Bus Boycott incident. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat too white man (CNN).
The Montgomery Bus Boycott urged and planned by Nixon and led by Dry. King, soon followed. The boycott lasted for 385 days, and the situation became so tense that Dry. King’s house was bombed. Dry King was arrested during this campaign, which ended with a United States District Court ruling in Brooder v. Galley that ended racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. (waking/Martin Luther King). Following his involvement with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he moved on to become the president, and founder, of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference CLC.
The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct non-violent protests in the service of civil rights reform. He was involved in hundreds of protests, boycotts, and demonstrations of peace non-violence, but was arrested over 30 times. The most influential part about Dry. Martin Luther King was the way in which he could inspire his followers through his speeches. He would rally supporters to his cause and for his great accomplishments. He earned himself a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the civil rights movement. “l have a dream” Speech 1963 As an inspirational speaker and an engaged leader, he gave many fantastic speeches that have moved every listener no matter whose side they were on. However, none of all the speeches could even come close to his speech “l have a dream” the famous name given to the ten minute public discourse. In his speech Dry. King called for racial equality to end racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; and the two dollar minimum wage for all workers. See figure 1) He delivered the speech on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. It was delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters, the speech is often considered to be one of the greatest ND most notable speeches in human history and was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1 999 poll of scholars of public address. (Luck & Mediums 1999). Dry. King commenced his speech with words that in power his presence throughout the audience.
He began by telling the audience how happy he was to join everyone on a non-violence rally that will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom of the nation. Dry. King immediately put himself on the same level as the followers and made them feel as they were unified as one. (James 1991) As King continued to pick up the momentum in his speech, he kept speaking f the injustices that were occurring to African Americans in the United States, especially in the South, for the last hundreds of years. Dry.
King expressed his true feeling and he not only addressed the situations in a very intelligent way, but he also was very effective by reaching the crowd’s hearts. Once Dry. King acquired the attention of the crowd, he began the most memorable and momentous part of his great speech. “l have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (James 1991). This statement was so powerful that will never be forgotten throughout the course of history in the United State.
Dry. King also stated how he would like to see the country and the people run as a unified and free nation. He said “that as a nation, we must overcome adversity and keep the dream alive so that one day the racial barrier may be torn down. ” Dry. King also reminded everyone about an important part of the constitution of the United States of America, that “all men are created equal”. He wanted to emphasize it to show how the African Americans were part of that equality and hey should be free of the oppression that they were faced on a daily basis.
In addition in his speech Dry King mentioned his children as he was very loyal to them. “l have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today’. Names 1991). Dry. King wished for a better life of his children and the children of a whole nation to have the opportunity to be treated as equal and not been judged by their color of their skin.
He knew the importance of the children future, and he stated will be the ay-this will be the day-when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country is of thee; sweet land of liberty; of thee I sing; land where my father died, land of the pilgrim’s pride; from every mountainside, let freedom ring! And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true” (James 1 991) this speech “l have a dream” was Dry. Kings greatest speeches ever. Indeed It was one of the greatest speeches according to the US. Representative John Lewis, who also spoke that day as the President of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Dry. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity o transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, and he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations. ” * Sit-in Movement, 1960 Although this demonstration at Lincoln Memorial in Washington was one of his great accomplishments, Dry. King was involved in many other significant protests that made an impact on the civil rights movement.
Like the sit-in movement a demonstration that had many serious implications and achievements for the civil rights. The sit-ins began by African American college students who would sit in restaurants and refused to leave until they were served. The movement started in February 1960; it began in Greensboro, North Carolina, and continued throughout the nation. The sit-ins were always non-violence peaceful movements where those participating neither provoke nor attack any of the white people eating in the restaurants. In Atlanta, there was a department store that was largely known to be a key segregation point. When Dry.
King and 75 students entered the store and requested lunch-counter service, he and 36 others were arrested. Atlanta’s mayor negotiated a treaty for all the students and Dry. King, however even though charges were dropped. Dry. King was imprisoned supposedly for violating his probation on a traffic offense conviction he had previously. John F. Kennedy, currently campaigning for the presidency, made a various telephone calls to the government agencies and had him released. John F. Kennedy was a supporter of Dry. King non-violence demonstrations. * Bloody Sunday, 1965 The Bloody Sunday was also non-violence demonstration organized by Dry.
King and other member of the CLC. They attempted to organize a march from Selma, mall city in Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery, for March 7, 1965. The first attempt to march on March 7th was canceled because of violence between the police against the demonstrators. This day has since become known as Bloody Sunday. Jackson, Thomas up 222-223) (see figure 2) Bloody Sunday was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the Civil Rights Movement, the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King’s nonviolence strategy.
Dry. King was not present, he decided not to endorse the march, but it was carried out against his wishes and thou his presence on March 7th by the director of the Selma Movement, James Bevel, and by local civil rights leaders. Once again Dry. King attempted to organize the demonstration couple days later on March 9th. He petitioned for an injunction in federal court against the State of Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Despised the order Dry.
King led the people on March 9th to from Selma to Montgomery, and then held a short prayer session before turning the followers of the marc around. Dry. King asked the crowd to disperse very quietly so not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement. The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965. At the conclusion of the demonstration on the steps of the state capitol, Dry. King delivered a speech that has become known as “How Long, Not Long”. (Leman 1996) II. Martin Luther King Assassination In March 1968, Dry.
King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of striking African American sanitation workers, to protest unequal wages and working conditions. At the time, the city of Memphis paid black workers significantly lower wages than whites. In addition, unlike their white counterparts, blacks received no pay if they stayed home during bad weather; consequently, most blacks were compelled to work even in driving rain and snow storms. Then Dry. King returned to Memphis on April 3rd, to address a gathering at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ. His airline flight to Memphis was delayed by a bomb threat against his plane.
With a thunderstorm raging outside, King delivered the last speech of his life, just to the people who were around him, the speech was now known as the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” He made reference to the bomb threat and aid: “And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats… Or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop, and I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.
Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! And so I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord! ” At 6:01 p. M. On Thursday, April 4, 1968, while he was standing on the Lorraine Motel Memphis, in the second floor balcony, King was struck by a single . 0 bullet. The bullet traveled through the right side of his neck, smashing his throat and down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. Dry. King was rushed to SST. Josephs Hospital, He was pronounced dead at 7:05 p. M. According to Taylor Branch, “Dry King’s autopsy revealed that though he was only 39 years old, he had the heart of a 60 year old man” (Christian History Institute. March, 2007). Ill. Dry. Martin Luther King’s Legacy Dry. King’s main legacy in the United States was to secure progress on civil rights, which has enabled more Americans to reach their potential and equal opportunities.
He is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. Dry. King not only inspired the people then during the civil right movements, but people throughout America and unborn generations. Also on the international side he left a legacy, Dry. King’s global legacy included influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and Civil Rights Movement in South Africa (Politics in South Africa Peggy). Dry King’s work was cited by and served as an inspiration for Albert Little, another black Nobel Peace prize winner who fought for racial justice in the same country South Africa.
Certainly Dry. King also left a family legacy, his wife, Correct Scott King, followed her husband’s footsteps and was active in matters of social justice and civil rights until her death in 2006. She established the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to preserving his legacy. Their on, Dexter King, currently serves as the center’s chairman. Their daughter Holland King is a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training. IV. Dry. Martin Luther King Leadership Dry.
Marin Luther King conventional leadership was all about coordinating the efforts of a group of people toward a goal. He became the fundamental point of balance and unity, because he had a remarkable ability to get people who would otherwise be constantly arguing to work together. Dry. Kings leadership was not limited to fine speeches. In private meetings, Dry. King was generally quiet. He listened while others argued, often angrily and for a length of time, and then he would calmly sum up the debate and identify a way forward. He was consistently reluctant to resolve bitter relations with anyone who might help the cause.
This was particularly important because the results of racism were a pronounced tendency to factionalism inside the black community (BBC. Org). One of his leadership skills was his calmness and the ability to deal with people in a non-violence way; that is why he was chosen to lead the Montgomery bus boycott, and the Sit-in Movement and other important The media quickly spotted his leadership skills, ability to articulate the moral dimensions of the struggle in ways that appealed to moderate public opinion, especially away from the South. He made it easier to accept change. Dry.
King cultivated an alliance of people of good will, but he knew that he needed more than simply moral issues to overturn segregation. “He had to threaten racial catastrophe, while simultaneously holding out the promise of racial peace” (Batty 2004) Dry. Martin Luther King unique leadership was predominating, he never gave up on his beliefs. He fought for those in need and search for justice, not only African Americans but for peace of the world. He was against the Vietnam War; he expressed doubts about the United States’ role in the Vietnam. In an April 4, 1967 Dry. King delivered a speech titled “Beyond Vietnam”. Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor in America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a tizzy of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours” (King 1967).
In this speech is clear that Dry. Martin Luther King was not only a leader for our country but a leader for the world. He demonstrated one fundamental leadership skills a leader must have and that was his ability to see beyond his self-interests and focus more on other’s people interests and needs. His was true to his beliefs; he put the same effort in any cause and any race. Dry. King selflessly eave everything he had to accomplish his goals and lead the world in peace. V. Conclusion Dry. Martin Luther King lived a fulfilling life, his beliefs, convictions, and actions were those of a distinguished leader.
A man full of extraordinary character and a sense of ambition a true leader hat never quit even during adversity times. Dry. King was an inspirational speaker and an engaged leader, he motivated masses by his allegiant speeches and achievements. “I have a dream” speech became one of his most important speeches of all time. It gave hope to every person black or white, because he did not classify his desire or freedom to only those involved in racial prejudice, but also to the religious hatred and prejudice that overwhelmed not only our nation, but the entire world. Dry.
King was a great leader, a person with no fear of the outcome. He became an effective leader of the civil rights because of his desire and willpower. He instilled trust and confidence in people. He was an effective communicator by helping others understand what he was trying to achieve. Dry King was also a motivational speaker because he was trustworthy and able to communicate a vision. As an advocate and leader for civil rights, he was able o clarify what he wanted and what he could expect. He was a prophet, and his leadership style is an inspiration to all of us.
Many great things could be achieved by following his leadership model. His unique leadership skills is what truly set Dry. King apart from other leaders of his time, his ability to deal with people, his integrity, sincerity, calmness to deal with adversity. He was truth to his values, he believed in equality, peace and harmony for every human been.