Martin Luther King
By: Jon • Essay • 1,152 Words • December 23, 2009 • 1,382 Views
Essay title: Martin Luther King
Many people around the world, present and disease, are recognized every year for their work involving peace and justice. These people lived their lives looking forward to changing the world to making it a better place. They did this by helping people day in and day out and they come from every race and gender. Leaders are meant to lead and these people all set examples that are being noticed today.
Towards the end of the depression in 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born on and son to Martin Luther King and Alberta Williams. He was born in the city of Atlanta Georgia and grew up in poverty. King's parents were great leading figures and taught their children to love God and show it through words and songs while in Church. Everyone always said that this loving family revolved around the church and it helped since the church they attended was only two blocks from their house.
While growing up, Martin Luther King was small for his age but that didn't stop him. King was very outgoing for his age however. He enjoyed playing football; he loved to read and always entertained others with his singing. Growing up close to everyone in his family, he was broken at the passing of his Grandmother in 1941. He used to say that she was his inspiration and she always told her grandchildren that a simple kind word can go a long way.
In 1944, Martin Luther King Junior enrolled into college at Morehouse University, only being fifteen years old at the time. While at his time at the university, he thought about being a lawyer or a doctor. He then got involved and worked with racial injustices and loved learning of the "theory of refusing to cooperate with an injustice system."
Later, Martin Luther King Junior decided to work for his PhD at Boston University and it was here where he met his wife, Coretta Scott. Coretta was a young singer and a very beautiful girl. The two of them got married in front of a church by Coretta's home and were married by Martin Luther King's father.
Martin Luther King Junior went on later after his marriage to get his parish involved and help them to join the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP in 1955. It was this year in which he was awarded his PhD and the birth of his first child, Yolanda Denise.
During some long years of his life around this time, segregation was happening all over the United States. It will always be remember in history of this time period when everything for different races was different. Whites segregated mostly blacks and included other races and forced some crucial, hard times. It was then in 1955 where Martin Luther King Junior lead others into the first bus boycott, which made an impact and everyone knew about it. It all took place after the world famous Rosa Parks did her part a few weeks earlier to get this campaign going against segregation.
King's life was very hard and he paid for being a leader. Many whites all over the United States disrespected him and his family. He continued however giving his famous speeches and activities that were against segregation. He went through so much in protecting his family since a bomb was left off in front of his house. He was later stabbed in the chest by a woman with a letter opener. King didn't stop here however. He did the right thing that he knew and he kept on going, passing all the devastation and troubles he was having during these times.
One of King's best accomplishments consisted of getting the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and illegalize the segregation of busing. No longer was it necessary for blacks to sit in the back and whites in the front. People of all races were aloud to sit wherever they wanted and this began a lot of segregation laws that came into play later in history.
Since Martin Luther King Junior spent some time in jail after being arrested several times,