Martin Luther King Jr Role Model Examples
A role model is someone who people look up to as an idol, someone whom many people want to be like, based of his or her good deeds and intentions. Role models are people who have, and continue to do a lot of good in their community as well as other selfless acts; other times we look up to people simply because they are financially successful or athletic. A true role model is someone who you would want yourself or your kids to be like. Not someone who is seen in a negative perspective by the public or society, but rather someone who has done a lot of good for the people around them, and taken steps to make the world a better place.
Some good examples of role models are Bill Gates, LeBron James, and Martin Luther King Jr. These are just a few …show more content…
of the hundreds of great role models in our history. Bill Gates and LeBron James are both extremely well known celebrities; Both of them have founded their own organizations and continue to donate large portions of their salaries to these organizations in hope of helping as many individual as possible. These organizations are created to help children and others in need with various things such as education, food, medicine, and even shelter. MLK was a freedom fighter who fought for equality and continued to fight for freedom in non-violence movements, in hopes to give African Americans the same treatment as everyone else. Often people choose their favorite athletes or favorite actors and actresses as role models. Their fame and their wealth sometimes overwhelm these celebrities, causing them to do things that may be illegal or disruptive. For example some people make their favorite athletes their role models, and these athletes sometimes do things that are unacceptable such as domestic abuse, illegal drug use, steroids use, gun violence, and even homicide.
Bill Gates co-founded one of the largest tech companies in the world known as Microsoft in 1976, and since then has grown as a person as well as an entrepreneur. His current net worth is $78.5 Billion and is 60 years old (forbes.com). He participates in many charitable events as well as his own charitable organization he created with his wife in 2000, called the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. They have given away 28 billion dollars just through this foundation alone and more than 8 billion of it to improve global health. Although charity work should not be measured in the amount of money it is good to see that Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates give back so much to see a change in the world. “Primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and in America, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology” (Gatesfoundation.org). This is why Bill Gates is a good role model for everyone to look up too and can follow in his footsteps. This is just one example of an entrepreneur who became fairly rich at a young age and managed too live a humble life, instead of the many entrepreneurs who let the money take over their life and get involved in the wrong things. Whether its illegal activities or doing things that could be morally wrong.
LeBron James is a Small Forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers who’s played in the NBA for 12 Seasons. He started playing in the NBA at a very young age, at 18 years old he was selected as the number one over-all pick. He was drafted right out of high school as his senior year came to an end. Most seniors in high school are getting ready to go on to college and continue their academic career, with almost no thought or regard to starting a professional career. And here on the other hand James was about to start a professional career in the NBA, one of the most prestigious athletic associations. He signed a 3-year, 12.96 million-dollar rookie contract plus over a 100 million dollars in endorsements (1, Stevenson). Making about 4.32 million a year just from the NBA alone. Now making an estimated 104.32 million dollars at the age of 18 seems beyond crazy to me, any teenager at the age would go on a shopping spree and buy everything they ever wanted in their life, causing them to go broke very soon. Not only that but they could very easily drift into doing illegal things such as drug use, and many other illegal activities that we see athletes getting involved with all the time. He is currently known to be associated with the following charitable organizations, After-School All-Stars, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Children's Defense Fund and most of his time and money have been put into his own foundation called The LeBron James Family Foundation. Also he has recently teamed up with the University of Akron to give scholarships to students with challenging backgrounds, similar to his growing up in a single parent household. Providing a guaranteed four-year scholarship to the school for students in James' I Promise program who qualify. The scholarship will cover the tuition and the service fees of the university, which is currently $9,500 per year. As many as 2,300 children could benefit from the scholarships. When asked why he chose to do this he responded with “These students have big dreams, and I'm happy to do everything I can to help them get there. They're going to have to earn it, but I'm excited to see what these kids can accomplish knowing that college is in their futures” (espn.go.com).
MLK Jr.
was a civil rights activist who fought for the equal rights of African Americans, and he was very well known for his non-violence movements. He was originally a Baptist minister, with a degree in sociology and a doctorate from Boston University. King started his civil rights movement around 1955, when a woman named Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to other white citizens. This was only the beginning, which fueled King to gather other African Americans and start a civil rights movement to protest for their rights. MLK Jr. from this point onwards, did many protests marching in the streets with the rest of the African American community. One of his biggest moral belief was non-violence, he urged all his followers to protest without any sort of vandalism or violence. He believed that would only affect them negatively, and in order to actually succeed in this mission was to protest without any sort of destruction. One of the things he did was leading a 382-day bus boycott, which meant walking to work everyday for that time. During this time he also experienced violence, harassment, intimidation, and his home was attacked (nobelprize.org). Although out this time he never retaliated in any manner, instead he fought back using the law. He fought these cases by bringing them to court and fighting them legally. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a public demonstration in Alabama, where hundreds of people attended with their families (biography.com). King was then arrested along with many other supporters, although they had done nothing wrong or illegal. Even than he encouraged all of his supporters to remain in a non-violence movement, one quote from him at the time was “nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue”
(lcrm.lib.unc.edu). Lance Armstrong is a famous bicyclist, who was known for wining not just one or two, but seven consecutive Tour de France races, from 1999 to 2006. He is also someone who was known for battling cancer and overcoming it to become successful and having a great career despite the drawbacks it brought it with it. Armstrong went through many aggressive chemotherapy sessions and a drastic change in eating habits after being diagnosed (Biography.com). He had a very strong work ethic which helped him get over these obstacles, and his strong desire to get back into the tournaments helped him achieve his goals. This is why many kids and inspiring bicyclist looked up to him and wanted to be just like him. This was until he was accused of using banned performance enhancing drugs, which he continued to deny for years. Until 2013 when he finally opened up about the drug use, admitting to using performance enhancing drugs during his races. The consequences of his actions caused him to be striped of all seven of his Tour de France medals including a bronze Olympic medal as well (cnn.com). He lied and cheated all these years; while fans looked up to him for what they thought was an exceptional athlete. Which in reality was nothing but a cheater who took the right away from all those people who came in second place to him for all those years. Bicyclist who trained just as hard if not more, had that right taken away from them because of someone who took the easy way out and cheated. Those people who came in second place to him all those years will never get that opportunity back to win those medals. Now no one will look at the legacy he created but rather everyone will see him as a cheater and a fraud.
Another example of someone who should not be considered a role model is an athlete named Ray Rice, a former starting running back for the Baltimore Ravens. Rice is currently 28 years old and was formally a running back in the NFL; he was one of the top running backs in the league before the Ravens released him, after a scandal had come to light. Rice had 6,180 career-rushing yards, as well as 37 touchdowns making him a sensation in Baltimore (espn.com). Working hard and staying late many nights in the weight room as well as coming early to practices he did all he could to become better each day. Many fans all over the nation would wait till Sunday afternoon, when they could watch him play as he was making a name for himself. He also had the respect of many other players and coaches in the league as well. Many kids and parents would put on his jersey on a Sunday afternoon and watch the game with their families hoping for a great game. That was until February 15, 2014 when Ray Rice was indicated on a charge of third degree aggravated assault. Rice and his then fiancé were in an elevator were some verbal exchange happened, leading Ray Rice to strike her in the face causing her to fall to the floor, and than he proceeded by dragging her out of the elevator. As this came to the news the Baltimore Ravens immediately dropped him from the team pending further investigating (espn.com). This shows us to believe that he is not as great of a person as he is a player on the field, he has problems with anger management and domestic abuse. Clearly not someone you would want your children to look up too just because of his athletic ability, because he lacks character. If you allow them to admire such a person, than they may grow up believing that it is ok to do something like that because they did it. You should surround yourself and your family with people who are more dedicated to do positive things, and want to see a change in the world for the better.
Some good examples of role models are Bill Gates, LeBron James, and Martin Luther King Jr. These are just a few …show more content…
of the hundreds of great role models in our history. Bill Gates and LeBron James are both extremely well known celebrities; Both of them have founded their own organizations and continue to donate large portions of their salaries to these organizations in hope of helping as many individual as possible. These organizations are created to help children and others in need with various things such as education, food, medicine, and even shelter. MLK was a freedom fighter who fought for equality and continued to fight for freedom in non-violence movements, in hopes to give African Americans the same treatment as everyone else. Often people choose their favorite athletes or favorite actors and actresses as role models. Their fame and their wealth sometimes overwhelm these celebrities, causing them to do things that may be illegal or disruptive. For example some people make their favorite athletes their role models, and these athletes sometimes do things that are unacceptable such as domestic abuse, illegal drug use, steroids use, gun violence, and even homicide.
Bill Gates co-founded one of the largest tech companies in the world known as Microsoft in 1976, and since then has grown as a person as well as an entrepreneur. His current net worth is $78.5 Billion and is 60 years old (forbes.com). He participates in many charitable events as well as his own charitable organization he created with his wife in 2000, called the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. They have given away 28 billion dollars just through this foundation alone and more than 8 billion of it to improve global health. Although charity work should not be measured in the amount of money it is good to see that Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates give back so much to see a change in the world. “Primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and in America, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology” (Gatesfoundation.org). This is why Bill Gates is a good role model for everyone to look up too and can follow in his footsteps. This is just one example of an entrepreneur who became fairly rich at a young age and managed too live a humble life, instead of the many entrepreneurs who let the money take over their life and get involved in the wrong things. Whether its illegal activities or doing things that could be morally wrong.
LeBron James is a Small Forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers who’s played in the NBA for 12 Seasons. He started playing in the NBA at a very young age, at 18 years old he was selected as the number one over-all pick. He was drafted right out of high school as his senior year came to an end. Most seniors in high school are getting ready to go on to college and continue their academic career, with almost no thought or regard to starting a professional career. And here on the other hand James was about to start a professional career in the NBA, one of the most prestigious athletic associations. He signed a 3-year, 12.96 million-dollar rookie contract plus over a 100 million dollars in endorsements (1, Stevenson). Making about 4.32 million a year just from the NBA alone. Now making an estimated 104.32 million dollars at the age of 18 seems beyond crazy to me, any teenager at the age would go on a shopping spree and buy everything they ever wanted in their life, causing them to go broke very soon. Not only that but they could very easily drift into doing illegal things such as drug use, and many other illegal activities that we see athletes getting involved with all the time. He is currently known to be associated with the following charitable organizations, After-School All-Stars, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Children's Defense Fund and most of his time and money have been put into his own foundation called The LeBron James Family Foundation. Also he has recently teamed up with the University of Akron to give scholarships to students with challenging backgrounds, similar to his growing up in a single parent household. Providing a guaranteed four-year scholarship to the school for students in James' I Promise program who qualify. The scholarship will cover the tuition and the service fees of the university, which is currently $9,500 per year. As many as 2,300 children could benefit from the scholarships. When asked why he chose to do this he responded with “These students have big dreams, and I'm happy to do everything I can to help them get there. They're going to have to earn it, but I'm excited to see what these kids can accomplish knowing that college is in their futures” (espn.go.com).
MLK Jr.
was a civil rights activist who fought for the equal rights of African Americans, and he was very well known for his non-violence movements. He was originally a Baptist minister, with a degree in sociology and a doctorate from Boston University. King started his civil rights movement around 1955, when a woman named Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to other white citizens. This was only the beginning, which fueled King to gather other African Americans and start a civil rights movement to protest for their rights. MLK Jr. from this point onwards, did many protests marching in the streets with the rest of the African American community. One of his biggest moral belief was non-violence, he urged all his followers to protest without any sort of vandalism or violence. He believed that would only affect them negatively, and in order to actually succeed in this mission was to protest without any sort of destruction. One of the things he did was leading a 382-day bus boycott, which meant walking to work everyday for that time. During this time he also experienced violence, harassment, intimidation, and his home was attacked (nobelprize.org). Although out this time he never retaliated in any manner, instead he fought back using the law. He fought these cases by bringing them to court and fighting them legally. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a public demonstration in Alabama, where hundreds of people attended with their families (biography.com). King was then arrested along with many other supporters, although they had done nothing wrong or illegal. Even than he encouraged all of his supporters to remain in a non-violence movement, one quote from him at the time was “nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue”
(lcrm.lib.unc.edu). Lance Armstrong is a famous bicyclist, who was known for wining not just one or two, but seven consecutive Tour de France races, from 1999 to 2006. He is also someone who was known for battling cancer and overcoming it to become successful and having a great career despite the drawbacks it brought it with it. Armstrong went through many aggressive chemotherapy sessions and a drastic change in eating habits after being diagnosed (Biography.com). He had a very strong work ethic which helped him get over these obstacles, and his strong desire to get back into the tournaments helped him achieve his goals. This is why many kids and inspiring bicyclist looked up to him and wanted to be just like him. This was until he was accused of using banned performance enhancing drugs, which he continued to deny for years. Until 2013 when he finally opened up about the drug use, admitting to using performance enhancing drugs during his races. The consequences of his actions caused him to be striped of all seven of his Tour de France medals including a bronze Olympic medal as well (cnn.com). He lied and cheated all these years; while fans looked up to him for what they thought was an exceptional athlete. Which in reality was nothing but a cheater who took the right away from all those people who came in second place to him for all those years. Bicyclist who trained just as hard if not more, had that right taken away from them because of someone who took the easy way out and cheated. Those people who came in second place to him all those years will never get that opportunity back to win those medals. Now no one will look at the legacy he created but rather everyone will see him as a cheater and a fraud.
Another example of someone who should not be considered a role model is an athlete named Ray Rice, a former starting running back for the Baltimore Ravens. Rice is currently 28 years old and was formally a running back in the NFL; he was one of the top running backs in the league before the Ravens released him, after a scandal had come to light. Rice had 6,180 career-rushing yards, as well as 37 touchdowns making him a sensation in Baltimore (espn.com). Working hard and staying late many nights in the weight room as well as coming early to practices he did all he could to become better each day. Many fans all over the nation would wait till Sunday afternoon, when they could watch him play as he was making a name for himself. He also had the respect of many other players and coaches in the league as well. Many kids and parents would put on his jersey on a Sunday afternoon and watch the game with their families hoping for a great game. That was until February 15, 2014 when Ray Rice was indicated on a charge of third degree aggravated assault. Rice and his then fiancé were in an elevator were some verbal exchange happened, leading Ray Rice to strike her in the face causing her to fall to the floor, and than he proceeded by dragging her out of the elevator. As this came to the news the Baltimore Ravens immediately dropped him from the team pending further investigating (espn.com). This shows us to believe that he is not as great of a person as he is a player on the field, he has problems with anger management and domestic abuse. Clearly not someone you would want your children to look up too just because of his athletic ability, because he lacks character. If you allow them to admire such a person, than they may grow up believing that it is ok to do something like that because they did it. You should surround yourself and your family with people who are more dedicated to do positive things, and want to see a change in the world for the better.