It is very important to shed light on the life and ideas of people who have shaped the world’s political and social life. In this concept it is very important to know life stories of leaders such as Martin Luther King, “based on their opinions“, instead of boring biographies you can find everywhere. Additionally, we will also touch on Martin Luther King’s ideas, actions and the famous “I have a dream speech” he gave in front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. We hope you will enjoy reading it without getting bored 🙂
His non-violent resistance to segregation in the United States is pivotal in world history. As we all know, fights that involve violence and harm people lose their legitimacy over time, even if they are legitimate at first. However, passive resistance like our hero goes down in history and inspires those who come after him. In this regard, it is very important to know his life story and ideas.
Martin Luther King!
First of all, we have to underline that Martin Luther King Jr. who played a very important role in gaining the rights of black citizens in America and “Martin Luther” are different people and lived in different places at different times😊 “Martin Luther” was a German monk and clergyman who lived in the 15th century and took important steps in the establishment of the Protestant sect with critics called “95 Theses“.
Life of Martin Luther King (MLK) Firstly, we wanted to clarify this generally confusing issue. Now, we are going to present you Martin Luther King’s life, views and sections from his famous “I have a dream” speech. By the way it is a well-known fact that M. Luther King JR. attract the hatred of the racists of that period with his “peaceful” actions and demonstrations in the United States which still has racist problems today. We should also mention that he was sadly assassinated by a white supremacist in 1968 when he was just 39 years old.
Martin Luther Life Story
In the meantime, we would like to emphasize again how important general culture and intellectual knowledge are for a better life. Accordingly, we would like to state that we believe that knowing a famous and important historical person like Martin Luther King who left his mark on the world’s political and social life, will also indirectly benefit your career. For example, if you mention MLK Day in a job or school interview, when it is and why it is a public holiday (in America), don’t you think it will give you a plus point😊
JR Luther King, who was born as the middle child in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on January 15, 1929, as Michael, later changed his name to Martin. He first took philosophy (1948) and then theology/the science of religion (1951), then received a master’s degree in theology (1955). On the other hand, He is also a Baptist man, just like his grandfather and father. The fact that he received philosophy education as well as religious education had an effect on him to look at subjects and matters from a different perspective. His name was first heard in 1955. After Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, for opposing Jim Crow laws, which included obligation that black Americans give their places to white Americans on buses, He launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which had a huge impact across the country.
I Have a Dream!
This boycott, which led to his arrest, lasted for about a year, and during this time, black Americans boycotted the buses and did not use them. Finally, the US Supreme Court abolished racial discrimination in buses and transportation.
M. Luther King, who organized peaceful non-violent demonstrations for the end of racial discrimination in the United States and took Mahatma Gandhi, the famous activist of the time, as an example, organized “the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” in 1963, which made a worldwide impact and was attended by approximately 250 thousand people. He also gave his “I have a dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial here. We present the important parts of this speech with English subtitles below for your information. The impact of this speech, the power of peaceful demonstrations, and his work and actions on human rights earned Martin Luther King the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1967, he drew criticism from the national press and the public because of his speeches in which the United States criticized the Vietnam War. American Baptist, activist and thinker M. L. King JR was just 39 years old when he was assassinated by gunfire and killed on the balcony of the hotel he came to rest after giving a speech in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
MLK Day
When we look at the time period from his graduation from university to his sad assassination in 1968, M. Luther King’s life appears as a difficult and tiring life story, which was spent entirely with struggle and efforts to seek justice. If we start from the view that all people are equal, we can better understand the idea of Martin Luther King should pay compensation for the discrimination against black citizens by the US state until that time. By saying that we try to emphasize that there were many problems at that time, such as wage inequality and voting rights between white and black workers. In this point, it is a widely-accepted fact that his criticism of the Vietnam War also caused him to become the target of extremist groups in the USA.
Stating that “darkness cannot be defeated by darkness and that it is possible to defeat darkness only with light,” He made great contributions to the elimination of racial discrimination in the USA with very different and peaceful demonstrations and boycotts for that period. With the great influence of his work and the “Civil Rights Movement” he started, black citizens gained many rights in 1964 and 1965 with the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Laws in the United States.
In order to better emphasize and commemorate its impact on American history along with social and political life, the third Monday of every January is celebrated as Martin Luther King Day, also known as MLK Day, and has been declared a public holiday in the United States. January 15 is Martin Luther King’s birthday and it was chosen as MLK Day to honour him and his memory.
