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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: An American Hero

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: An American Hero
“There are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they are worth dying for. And I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live" [NCC STAFF]. This is a qoute that summarizes the social justice pioneer and hero, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Dr. King lived and died based on what he believed was right, just, and morally sound. These next few paragraphs will shed some light on one of America's heros. Alberta Williams King gave birth to Martin Luther Jr. on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up in a large Victorian home on Auburn Avenue and lived there for twelve years. The house is now a museum. At the age of 12, he seems to have tried …show more content…
It was the largest gathering in the history of Washington. Luther's speech, "I Have a Dream" was one of the most vibrant speeches of American history along with Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Franklin D. Roosevelt's Infamy Speech. on August 28, 1963, in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States and called for civil and economic rights. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.[1]"With a single phrase, Martin Luther King Jr. joined Jefferson and Lincoln in the ranks of men who've shaped modern America".[2] The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars of public …show more content…
His most famous award was the Noble Peace Prize. At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize (leronebennett) When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.
Martin Luther King JR. was one of the world's greatest men, sadly his life got taken away. On April 4, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated by a sniper as he stood on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, TN. News of his death was greeted with an outpouring of grief and rage. Riots erupted all over the country, primarily in black urban areas. At least 110 cities experienced violence and destruction in the next few days, resulting in roughly $50 million in damage. Of the 39 people who died, 34 were black.
James Earl Ray assassinated Martin,He was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He later recanted his confession and tried unsuccessfully to gain access to a retrial. In 1998, Ray died in prison of complications due to chronic hepatitis C

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