Martin Luther King, Jr. was an activist who contributed to the end of segregation in Alabama and parts of the United States. Dr. King contribution to the cause made him the most influential man in the history of the United States. Before becoming an activist, Martin was known as an intellectual child. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a part of a nonviolent organization called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Martin Luther King continue to fight for equality across the United States. Despite other argument, Martin Luther King, Jr was an influential person because he was an intellectual child, a part of a nonviolent organization, and continue to fight equality across the United States.
Since he was a young boy, Martin Luther King was an intellectual person. Martin attended David T. Howard Elementary and Booker T. Washington High School. In high school, Martin was quarterback of his school’s football team. While attending Booker T. Washington High school Martin “skipped both the ninth and eleventh grades, and entered Morehouse College in Atlanta at age 15, in 1944. He was a popular student, especially with his female classmates, but an unmotivated student who floated through his first two years (“Martin Luther King Jr.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 18 Jan. 2018,).” After graduating Morehouse College, King attended Crozer Theological Seminary. Unlike Morehouse, King “excelled as a student. Crozer was the first integrated school King attended; he soon became the school’s first African American student body president and later graduated at the top of his class. It was here that he awakened intellectually, reading voraciously, particularly in theology and secular philosophy; and it was here that he was exposed to currents of thought that guided his thinking for the rest of his life (“Martin Luther King, Jr.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/biography/mlk/section2/).” Even though Dr. King did efficiently well at Morehouse, he was able to become an overachiever and be at the top of his class. Overall King understanding of the human behavior lead him to become a non-violent activist.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a part of a nonviolent organization called Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was a group committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolent protest. The organization was founded by Martin Luther King, Jr., Bayard Rustin, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth and mother civil rights activists. Dr. King was the president of the SCLC. In the text it states, “In his role as SCLC president, Martin Luther King, Jr. traveled across the country and around the world, giving lectures on nonviolent protest and civil rights as well as meeting with religious figures, activist, and political leaders (History.com Staff. “Martin Luther King Jr.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009,).” King was able to spread the word of equality throughout different continents and meet leaders who are fighting for the same cause. In addition to reason one and two, Dr. King was an intellectual man who fought for what he believed in.
Martin Luther King, Jr. continued to fight for equality across the United States. MLK actions toward segregation help counties and cities to have equal rights. In 1965, King drew international attention in Selma, Alabama where violence erupted between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators as the SCLC was organizing a voter registration campaign (History.com Staff. “Martin Luther King Jr.” History.com, A;E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr.). “Captured on television, the brutal scene outraged many Americans and inspired supporters from across the country to gather in Alabama and take part in the Selma to Montgomery march led by King and supported by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent in federal troops to keep the peace.
That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed the right to vote—first awarded by the 15th Amendment—to all African Americans (History.com Staff. “Martin Luther King Jr.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr.).
Despite other argument, Martin Luther King, Jr was an influential person because he was an intellectual child, a part of a nonviolent organization, and continue to fight equality across the United States. Martin Luther King was known as an intellectual student from elementary through college. Dr. King was a part of a nonviolent organization to fight for equality between the whites and blacks. After the March on Washington, Martin Luther King continued to fight for equality across the United States. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an inspiration to everyone in the world for his will to fight against segregation and discrimination.
