What do you consider a leader? Is it someone who can lead a group of people with no trouble or is it simply someone with exquisite thinking skills? There is not an accurate definition explaining who or what a leader is because each is different. I feel that Martin Luther King Jr is a great example because he has the ability to inspire people, which led to a movement that forever changed America. This paper goes into detail of things accomplished by Martin Luther King Jr, which allowed him to be considered one of the most influential leaders of our time.
Martin Luther King Jr was born January 15, 1929 to the name of Michael Luther King Jr, in Atlanta, Georgia. King came from a comfortable middle class family living on the street known as “African American wall street” for the first twelve years of his life. The first time he ever experienced a form of prejudice was at the age of six when one of his Caucasian playmates told him that his parents stated they could no longer be friends. One particular summer King spent time on a tobacco farm in Connecticut. That visit was the first time he had ever experienced race relations that did not involve the south. He was taken back at how the different races were involved in each other’s everyday life without problems. This experience gave King a glimpse of what life could be like.
Being the son, grandson and great grandson of Baptist preachers had a significant influence on him, which allowed him to lead the country in a fight for what is right. Kings mother and grandmothers voice as caretakers is linked to his public ethical voice. His antipathy towards violence started at a significantly young age when his mother and grandmothers influence was the strongest. King entered Morehouse College at the age of 15 under a program created to boost enrollment. During time spent there, racism ran rampant. Colonized people of
Africa and Asia spoke
References: Jackson, T. (2008). Becoming King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the making of a national leader. Lexington, Ky: University Press of Kentucky. Martin Luther King Jr. - Biography. (n.d.). Nobelprize.org. Retrieved from http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html Martin Luther King Jr. — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts. (n.d.). History.com — History Made Every Day — American & World History. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/martin-luther-king-jr Martin Luther King, Jr. (American religious leader and civil-rights activist) -. (n.d.). In Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318311/Martin-Luther-King-Jr Richards, D. A. (2005). Disarming manhood: Roots of ethical resistance. Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press. The Seattle Times | Martin Luther King Jr. (n.d.). The Seattle Times | News, sports, weather, events in the Northwest. Retrieved from http://seattletimes.com/special/mlk/king/biography.html The shocking stats on black-on-black crime | American Vision News. (n.d.). American Vision News . Retrieved from http://americanvisionnews.com/2838/the-shocking-stats-on-black-on-black-crime