Preview

How Did Martin Luther King Jr Influence The World

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1393 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did Martin Luther King Jr Influence The World
Martin Luther King Jr. was a truly dynamic person in his short but eventful and important lifetime. He was responsible of the eventual equality of all races, and set a good example in his protests, but he was not always that way. Martin Luther King Jr. was influenced by his father, his religion, and a person that lived in India halfway across the world. These people shaped Martin’s attitude, perspective, actions, and protests. One thing was for sure, King was not born understanding all that he did once he had shaped the country of America for the better. His influences made him careful, kind, respectful, intelligent, and well gathered. Even as a highly famous and respected person, King also had to change.
Martin Luther king was born with a
…show more content…
worked at a local church, and was part of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), a program that King Jr. would later join. King Sr. experienced the damaging of a colored person when he was young, and also respected pastors who were willing to speak out about segregation. King Sr. also rode on “white only” elevators. Growing up, King Jr.’s parents were together; he described the his childhood as “a very congenial life situation,” and King Sr.’s experiences greatly influenced the learnings of King Junior. As a child, King had no opinion or understanding of the separation of people in his hometown. King Jr. would have conversations at the hour of dinner involving racial issues and government with his father, who then taught King Jr. most of his experiences involving segregation. This event changed King from a innocent and socially uneducated boy and threw him into his first thoughts about the separation of people. These thoughts were later the basis of his protests around the world. These conversations were the ideas that began King’s opinion about the separated world around him. When King Jr. was young, he also experienced another event involving his father. King Sr. was pulled over by a policeman with King Jr. in the backseat of his father’s vehicle. The policeman was fair skinned and addressed King Sr. as a “boy.” King Sr. responded by stressing that he will not listen to the officer until King Sr. was addressed as a man. This event made the policeman worried and stressed, and the officer quickly left the scene. This event played out with King Jr. watching. This changed King Jr., for he realized one way of dealing with discrimination. Later in his short life, King Jr. responded to criticism without giving up and by standing tall, continuing with his non-violent actions. King Sr.’s role in the local church also made King Jr. very associated with the Christian religion, and later in life King Jr. used religion

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the greatest civil rights activists this nation has ever seen. The ability he had to seize an opportune moment in time was phenomenal. A true example of this ability was a time he had been jailed for not having the proper permits during a civil rights parade in Birmingham, Alabama. While he was in jail, eight clergymen criticized him, calling his activities “unwise and untimely” (112). He responded to their criticism with amazing rhetoric, grasping at their hearts and minds with syntax, diction, examples, and allusions in his now famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”…

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. was the acknowledged leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. King earned several degrees and was a bright man. His “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written in April 1963, while he was in jail in Birmingham, Alabama, for acts of civil disobedience (499). His letter is a response to a letter signed by clergyman criticizing his actions towards civil rights. The clergymen believed that his actions were “untimely.” King states ,”if I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk…I would have no time for constructive work” (500). He usually does not respond to letter that criticize his work and actions, but he believed the clergymen were men of genuine good and they meant no harm. King was president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and they had affiliates all throughout the South. King believed he was supposed to spread freedom. He agreed that if Birmingham ever needed him that he would be there. “Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (500). King used an approach to resolve issues in nonviolent manners. It consisted of sit-ins, marches, and etc. Nonviolent direct action would create a tension that an otherwise ignored subject would have to be faced. With nonviolent direct action and ignored issue would come to light and can no longer be ignored(502). After the direct-action program, King hoped that the doors to negotiation would open.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. was blessed with amazing talents, one of them being great leadership skills. Leadership simply came naturally to him. It would have been wise for Napoleon and Squealer, those deceiving pigs from Animal Farm, to take notes about leadership and integrity from Dr. King. Dr. King's leadership and perseverance played a major role in helping the black people acquire the equality they so rightfully deserved. Unlike the pigs of Animal Farm, Martin Luther King Jr. embodies the characteristics of a strong leader because he does tremendous job demonstrating integrity, respect, and collaborativeness.…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the leaders of the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 50s and 60s; he additionally served as a preacher, and an activist. Because Dr. King grew up in America, the political injustices, racism, and exploitation that blacks were exposed to lead to an inevitable passion about what he was preaching for – freedom and…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    ‘Nothing mattered more to king than being an outstanding preacher. Martin Luther King had an exceptional personal some state. He was a very proud and an outspoken man. He had been ‘conditioned’ from the mere age of nine and ordained in a black church for later life purposes (1). At a young age racism surrounded him and was affected first hand. He was abused by a white mill owner purely on the colour of his skin. He also witnessed other black people suffering from violence when he saw a white mob attack and barbarically murder a black man. King was a very opinionated person and became a lead figure head publicly known on a national scale. This came to be evident from 1955 onwards when he represented the Montgomery bus boycott. However prior to this boycott in 1955, in 1954 he began to work as a pastor in Montgomery. King had a very likeable personality and rarely missed the opportunity to publicly speak in front of large crowds. He even flagged a marathon from Selma to Montgomery just to address a crowd regarding the civil rights movement and his feelings representative of many others. It is clear to see that Martin Luther King’s aims were to gain equality for black people. He wanted to draw attention to the racial inequality on a national level and more importantly challenge the status quo with ruthless determination that a majority of black people had accepted but the questions remains how pivotal was his presence to the success of the movement. This determination can be portrayed in some of his actions for example he would rather have faced a jail sentence rather than a ten dollar fine not due to money but with regards to principle. Martin Luther King is key to the civil rights movement as he could be seen by some as a role model and setting the principles for the early stage of the movement while there was little progress. Many have commonly noticed his methods in tackling issues…

    • 2318 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. is a name that everyone in America now a days should recognize who he was and some of the things he did. The mid 1900’s were not the brightness for both blacks or whites in the country as segregation was still around but, 1950’s to 1960’s those who were segregated were starting to open their eyes and release their thoughts. Martin Luther King Jr. was considered the leader of these efforts and this did not go down unpunished. He was arrested numerous times however he was showing no fear during these arrests. He would write letters meant for whoever would read it such as the one from Birmingham Alabama Jail and it had purpose to it. The purpose which was the…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The King’s where against segregation. Two white kids Martin used to play with said they couldn’t play with him because was black. Martins mom said, “you are as good as anyone”.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin L. King Jr. I have chosen Dr. King, because he was a powerful and motivated man. He showed many strong characteristic traits. The traits he demonstrates are confidence in reason, intellectual humility, intellectual empathy, and intellectual perseverance. All of these traits indicated to the people that Dr. King was focusing on change. Dr. Martin L. King Jr.’s confidence in reason was hoping every race would respect each other. He was for the better good of humanity and a better society as a whole. Dr. King humility trait is analyzed by his speeches. His speeches focused on racial prejudices and those issues were stated facts. He was speaking the truth to a large number of people that were supporting his arguments, because of the stated facts. Intellectual humility was natural to his character. Dr. Martin L. King Jr. showed intellectual empathy when he preached about putting himself into other people shoes. He wanted to know what it felt to see things in the eyes of others. He wanted to put himself into other people shoes to see why they acted in an unjustified manner. Dr. King showed intellectual perseverance by stating that “I must struggle with justice in order to fight with it”. These traits characteristics helped Dr. Martin L. King Jr. become the phenomenal man he is…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. is known for his nonviolent approach to gain freedom for the African American community. He gained much respect and has become a figure to appreciate. At a time of so much oppression, he refused to abide by the Whites and wanted to abide by both Whites and Blacks. In his famous letter at Birmingham Jail, he addresses the topic of acting now and acting with the full support of everyone. In this way he is similar to Malcolm X who also wanted the Africans to stand up against the oppressors.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dr. King rhetoric essay

    • 750 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Dr. King was a well-known civil rights activist, he left behind many examples within his speeches of how he believed we as a community could change the world for the better. He worked diligently to end segregation and reduce the amount of hatred. Even today we still experience discrimination in our everyday lives but not to the extent during his time. Change is hard for people to accept no matter how small or how large. In Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech, Letter from Birmingham Jail, and Why We Can’t Wait he vividly expresses his feelings towards the problems facing his community and gives solutions to solve them.…

    • 750 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” Black people were suffering in almost silence until around 1955, when Dr Martin Luther King Jr, a Baptist Minister, began non-violent protests Martin Luther King Jr came from a line of Baptist ministers and was his father who thought that segregation was against GOD, some influence came from Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Benjamin Mays, the president of Morehouse college King met his wife, Coretta Scott, at Boston university, after college, he started his civil rights protests with the Montgomery bus boycott, becomes chairman of the SCLC, meets with president Eisenhower, takes a month long trip to Gandhi’s birthplace in India, writes his “letter from a Birmingham jail”, and after the March on Washington delivers his “I have a dream” On April 4TH, 1968 Dr Martin Luther King is assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. Used nonviolent methods influenced in part by Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr’s nonviolent acts consisted of sit-ins, boycotts, marches and speeches…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    After years of segregation and inequality, one man stood up and fought for what was right. This man spoke of dreams and for what he felt as morally right, ethically right, lawfully right and emotionally right. This man spoke of freedom, brotherhood and equality among all people, no matter what race they were. He brought forth facts and emotions to America that was being felt by the black community, which was being treated so badly. This man was Martin Luther King Jr., a clergyman and civil rights leader, who later was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. King opened the eyes of America to a broader sense of understanding, to a wider view of the inequality and hate that almost every black person had to live through at that time. After several peaceful protests King was arrested for demonstrating in defiance of a court order, by participating in a parade, he was then taken to Birmingham jail (Leff & Utley, 8-9).…

    • 2996 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    King was critical for the civil rights movement; he was massively proactive. This is evident from King’s first significant role, the 1955 Bus boycott - King put forward his method of non-violent protest as for correcting the inequalities of the American Society. Already from this first act we see King’s ‘pure’ intentions, his ideal of non-violent protest which he would continue to use throughout his civil rights campaign, King persuaded local people to boycott, without them it would be unsuccessful. The value of this one event is key to understanding the importance of King; this one event set the tone for the rest of…

    • 2465 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The 1960s changed America forever. The civil rights movement during the 1960s helped minorities such as the Hispanics, African-Americans, and women achieve social equality, economic equality, employment potential, and an education. One of the major civil rights activist of the 1960s who paved the way for other minorities was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. King Jr. was a Baptist church minister as well as a civil rights activist who promoted social equality.…

    • 1652 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. has made an incredible impact on how our society is today. ‘The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” In this quote it is explaining how people do not stand out as much when they do things they are comfortable doing but when they get throw challenges and they do not give up they are the people that stand out from everyone else. People do not realize that, they think if someone can do something that they cannot then they are all heroic but they could have just been more comfortable doing it then the other person.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays