Power to the People

Power to the People Essay

Over the course of history many people have stood up and fought to improve society, but two of the most influential people then and today are Martin Luther King Jr. and Malala Yousafzai. They have greatly affected society by raising people's awareness of certain political issues. Martin Luther KIng Jr. was born January 15, 1929. He was a Civil Rights Leader and Baptist minister who campaigned against the segregation of African Americans. On December, 1955, the accepted the leadership of the first African American nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the Montgomery bus boycott. During these days of boycott, Martin was arrested, his home was bombed, he was exposed to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a significant leader.
On August 28, 1963, King gave one of the most famous speeches of America. “I Have a Dream.” In this speech Martin yelled "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!". King could have focused on the injustice of how white men and women were treating African Americans, but he instead said positive things.
Martin Luther King affected todays society in many major ways. His voice brought America’s attention to how unfairly African Americans were treated. His peaceful, nonviolent demonstrations and speeches led to new laws that ended the laws of keeping people of different races separate. Martin helped tremendously with the Civil Rights Movement of 1964, and practically made it all himself. This is why each year, on January 3 the world celebrates his birthday. He was the first African American to receive an individual national holiday. Malala Yousafzai has been fighting for her right to an education since early 2008. She is currently 16 years old, she was born in Mingora, Pakistan and lived in Swat Valley. Yousafzai is currently fighting against the Taliban, a group of terrorists that took over Afghanistan in 1995 and are known to have been bombing schools, massacring thousands of men and women, oppression of women; forcing them to leaving schools and colleges, and terrorism against civilians. Malala started speaking about education rights in September 2008 when her father took her to speak at a local press club. In late 2008 she was asked to blog for BBC anonymously. On January 3 2009, she wrote her first entry to the BBC. She would handwrite notes and then give them to a reporter who would then scan and email them. On October 9 2012 a Taliban gunman shot Malala when she was returning from school. She was hit with one bullet, which went through her neck, head and remained in her shoulder. This assassination attempt exploded over the newspapers, television, internet, talk shows, and politicians. Malala Yousafzai has raised awareness throughout the world about how the Taliban had been terrorizing Afghanistan. Malala was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize but sadly did not win. The United Nations petition used the slogan "I am Malala", the petitioner's main demand was that there be no children left out of school by 2015. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malala Yousafzai have greatly affected todays society; raising awareness of important political issues that not many people around to world where aware of. King helped African Americans reach social freedom, while Malala is currently helping girls earn their basic right to education in Pakistan.