How did Religion Influence Martin Luther King, Jr as he led the Civil Rights Movement What do you consider a leader? Is it someone who can lead a group of people with no trouble or is it simply someone with exquisite thinking skills? There is not an accurate definition explaining who or what a leader is because each is different. I feel that Martin Luther King Jr is a great example because he has the ability to inspire people, which led to a movement that forever changed America. This paper goes into detail of things accomplished by Martin Luther King Jr, which allowed him to be considered one of the most influential leaders of our time. Martin Luther King Jr was born January 15, 1929 to the name of Michael Luther King Jr, in Atlanta, …show more content…
Montgomery’s group of civil rights advocates decided to dispute racial segregation on city buses after the arrest of Rosa Parks whom refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. The advocated created the Montgomery Improvement Association in order to boycott the transit system and King was chose as their leader. During his first speech king stated: “We have no alternative but to protest. For many years, we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.” On December 21st of 1956, the United States Supreme Court declared segregation on buses as unconstitutional and which allowed African Americans the same equality of Caucasians as they rode the bus. During this time, King’s was arrested, his home was dynamited and family was threatened but he still persevered and never gave in to using violence to demand what was right. King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which allowed him to operate throughout the South. This gave him a platform to speak and he lectured several parts of the country discussing issues regarding race.
‘Nothing mattered more to king than being an outstanding preacher. Martin Luther King had an exceptional personal some state. He was a very proud and an outspoken man. He had been ‘conditioned’ from the mere age of nine and ordained in a black church for later life purposes (1). At a young age racism surrounded him and was affected first hand. He was abused by a white mill owner purely on the colour of his skin. He also witnessed other black people suffering from violence when he saw a white mob attack and barbarically murder a black man. King was a very opinionated person and became a lead figure head publicly known on a national scale. This came to be
is considered the most influential leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He was a very tenacious man with beliefs rooted in equality. Therefore, it is no surprise that he was less than pleased with the Christian church and its reaction to the African-American Civil Rights Movement. For despite his best efforts, it still proved increasingly more difficult for him to reach most white churches. He struggled to get through to the white churches and make it clear that even colored people are loved by God. This caused a great deal of strife between the clergymen of white churches and King. Furthermore, even members of his own church were disappointed with his timing and actions in Birmingham that led to his arrest. However, King persistently noted that he was not confined by what was legal, but by what was right. His worldview was shaped by the idea that, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” as he stated in this letter. It is for this reason that he felt such an immediate need to act on the intense discrimination happening in Birmingham, though it went against many of his fellow clergymen’s best advice. For he saw his role in the situation to be vital as he saw himself as the leader for the correction of these
Martin Luther King Jr.’s faith in Jesus Christ influenced his actions, values, and beliefs in multiple ways including King leading peaceful protests, his belief of being kind and fair to everyone, and values including determination and persistence. King believed that peaceful protests were the ideal revolution, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. While Gandhi was not a Christian, rather a Hindu, Martin Luther King Jr. believed that many of Gandhi's principles related to Christianity, "Gandhi was probably the first person in history to lift the love ethic of Jesus above mere interaction between individuals to a powerful and effective social force on a large scale. Christ furnished the spirit and motivation, and Gandhi furnished the method." (MLK). King concluded Christ was the basis of Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings and used his example in his actions. Martin Luther also believed that throughout all the chaos in the upheaval of traditions, you should always remain kind and fair towards those on your side, or the opponent.
To begin, Martin Luther King was a religious person. He was a pastor and he believed in God. His faith was one of the reasons why he fought for black civil rights. In 1957, after having boycotted bus services, he became president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (“Martin Luther King Jr.” BBC). The ideas that this organization supported
Martin Luther King, JR., was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929 to Martin Luther King and Alberta Williams King. He was the middle child. He had an
On Tuesday, January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born to his parents, Reverend Marin Luther King Sr. and Alberta King a part time school teacher and the a pianist at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. His household included his grandparents as well as his older sister, Willie Christine and younger brother
In fact, Martin Luther King Jr. has been known as “the most important figure for understanding the postmodern Christianity in an age of globalization” (Esposito, 211). As discussed in class, Martin Luther King Jr. highly encouraged “global diversity and was open to other religions” other than Christianity (Esposito, 212). Many supporters and followers of the civil rights movement turned to Christianity to help comfort and guide them. “Major denominations financially and intellectually supported the movement, its many leaders were passionate ministers, and black churches served as sites of organization, education, and community engagement for the hundreds of thousands of anonymous supporters of the movement” (“The Role of Religion”). The acceptance of many black leaders and ministers helped African Americans work toward their goal.
The protest gin, on Dec. 1, 1955, after African-American Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her site on an omnibus to a favorable person. The next day, Dr. King proposed a citywide boycott of public transportation at a qualifier meeting. The boycott proved to be effectual, origin the conveyance system to run an immense deficit. After all, Montgomery’s somber residents not only were the principal boycotters, but also the bulk of the transit system’s paying customers. The post became so tense that members of the White Citizens' Council, a group that hostile phyletic integration, firebombed King's house. In June 1956, a federal court found that the Torah in Alabama and Montgomery requiring separate coach were unconstitutional. However, an accusation kept segregation unimpaired until Dec. 20, 1956, when the US Supreme Court upheld the district civility's chief. The embargo's official close signaled one of the affable rights movement's first victories and made King one of its middle
The reason that king didn’t get support from other ministers consisted of a few blatant reasons: they didn’t support his race, they felt that he already had a great deal of power by himself, and they didn’t approve of what he was trying to accomplish. His goal was to end segregation across the United States, but when he entered the region of the most segregated place in the united states, known as Birmingham Alabama, he was not welcomed. They told King that he had to be patient and wait for the change that he was looking for. They could say that with no effort because they couldn’t really relate. King was dealing with segregation his entire life. He
Due to that success the Montgomery Improvement Association, led by a young minister named Martin Luther King Jr., planned a permanent boycott until their demands were met. They asked for courteous treatment, seating on a first come, first serve basis, and black bus drivers for mostly black bus routes. Businesses and private homes started to feel the effects of the boycott. Whites started to fight back. Blacks were arrested for walking the streets. Dr. King's home was bombed. The boycott lasted eleven months before there were any positive results. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation on Alabama buses was unconstitutional. The boycott was an astounding success and it brought Dr. Martin Luther King to prominence. 1
In the great country of America; America is who it is today because of the men and woman who were great leaders that were able to influence people. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of those great leaders that has changed America for the better because he had a dream. He was a black baptist minister who was a spokesperson against segregation and led peaceful protests. In the 2014 movie Selma, the film shows how Mr. King led the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches and the events leading up to it. Mr. King was a remarkable leader because he could motivate people to join him in the protest against segregation and influence America to change.
For example in his “I Have a Dream” speech he said that he had a dream one day Alabama would allow little black boys and black girls to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. This was implying the desegregation of schools, as well as the overall rights of African American people and love and unity as a nation. Although are currently still not a perfect or unified nation and are still dealing with institutionalized racism and hate, schools, buses, bathrooms have legally desegregated since Dr. King’s speech which means it could be argued that it was a message from God. Dr. King was also a pastor, so one could argue that he could have been divinely chosen by God to lead the movement. He also wrote a paper called the “The Unknown Great” where he writes about the prophets of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, as well as Abraham and Moses. Basically, he studied prophets that followed God and were leaders for their people, which helped him eventually lead the
Man Narrator: Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929. His father Martin Luther King Sr. and his grandfather James King.
One of the greatest Prophets to ever successfully change the lives of millions of racially discriminated victims was Martin Luther King Jr. A passionate man, and an extremist for love, his famous “I Have a Dream” speech was an important turning point of the Civil Rights Movement. By delivering such a powerful and profound speech, he helped bring attention and bring light to the equal rights that everyone deserved, not just white Americans. He had many methods in which he helped keep the Civil Rights Movement alive, some key methods being the location of where the speech was given, non-violence, all while incorporating his Christian values in his fight. The way Dr. King wrote and executed his speech, made it
Martin was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, by the name of Michael King Jr. Later, in 1931 after coming back home from a Baptist convention in Germany, Michael King, Senior; who was Martin’s father, adopted the name Martin Luther King in honor of