Martin Luther King Jr.: The Black Civil Rights Movement

Introduction
Martin Luther King Jr. was a black civil rights activist in the mid 1950s. The presence of Martin Luther King Jr. is central because his efforts eliminated discrimination in America. The change that he brought into the society came with challenges and hardships, but lead to many accomplishments for King. Martin Luther King Jr. is prominent even today because of the rich legacy he left behind for the generations to come.
Challenges
Martin Luther King Jr. faced several challenges including despise from some people of his own race. King believed in non-violent tactics and the blacks believed his method of solving problems using non-violence is not effective. Malcolm X also called his tactics to be ineffective and unjustified. King still took a measurable approach and used non-violence to fight for the equality rights. In 1965, King organized a march in order to persuade the government to give blacks the same voting rights as white people. King did not lead this march himself, and the march was unsuccessful. The failure of the march made him more determined, so he decided to lead another march later that year. Despite the efforts made by courts and government to convince King to cancel his protest, he did not bend to their wishes. The march resulted in Voting Rights Act of 1965, which helped King gain trust of many.
Accomplishments
The challenges King faced eventually paid off and resulted in some of his biggest accomplishments. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 because of his non-violent movements and tactics to end segregation in America. Since Martin Luther King decided to follow the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi and believed that non-violence was the right way to achieve his purpose, King was awarded Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1968. It is awarded by the Indian government for promoting goodwill amongst the world. Several years after his death he was honored with Presidential Medal of Freedom for bringing a change to the society which made an impact worldwide and promoted peace. He is remembered till this day for the great changes he brought into the society.
Assassination and Afterlife
On April 3, Martin Luther King said “We’ve got some difficult days ahead...I may not get there with you. But I want to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.” He was implying that even if he is not alive in the future, his people will fight for the right reason and will bring equality to their promised land America. The next day, King was standing on the balcony of his building and he was assassinated. His death was a downfall for the black society, but it caused black people to be more aware and stand up for their rights. There is a memorial near the site of his famous “I have a Dream” speech. There are many statues, paintings, streets and schools authorized in his name. He became the conscience of his generation and brought the change that provided equal rights to black and white people.
Conclusion
There have been many human rights activist, but Martin Luther King Jr.
was one of the very first people to raise their voice against inequality that was being done towards black people. His conscience did not allow him to bear the torture that was being done against black people, so he decided to take action. After bearing the challenges that were placed upon King, he kept his head high and brought a change to the society and received many awards for bringing peace to the world. The movements lead by Martin Luther King was so impactful that he is remembered even after his assassination, and is an important character in the black
history.