Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Miguel Rodriguez

Centenary College

Abstract

This paper will analyze and study the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and how leadership skills helped him in accomplishing his goals. The characteristics that made Dr. King a great leader will also be addressed. By studying great leaders, insight can be gained into what qualities they possess.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a vital figure of the modern era. His lectures and dialogues stirred the concern and sparked the conscience of a generation. The movements and marches he led brought significant changes in the fabric of American life through his courage and selfless devotion. This devotion gave direction to thirteen years of civil rights activities. His charismatic leadership inspired men and women, young and old, in this nation and around the world. (Intellectual Properties Management)

Dr. King’s concept of “somebodiness,” which symbolized the celebration of human worth and the conquest of subjugation, gave black and poor people hope and a sense of dignity. His philosophy of nonviolent direct action, and his strategies for rational and non-destructive social change, galvanized the conscience of this nation and reordered its priorities. His wisdom, his words, his actions, his commitment, and his dream for a new way of life are intertwined with the American experience. (Intellectual Properties Management) This paper will explore some of the strategies used by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and how they made a difference in the world.

Dr. King was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. Dr. King was in Memphis to help lead sanitation workers in a protest against low wages and intolerable working conditions. James Earl Ray was arrested in London, England on June 8, 1968, and returned to Memphis, Tennessee on July 19, 1969 to stand trial for the assassination of Dr. King. On March 9, 1969, before coming to trial, he entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to ninety-nine years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. In recent years, events in the lives of the King family have continued to reflect the tragedy and the triumph so uniquely combined in Dr. King’s own life and is intrinsic, perhaps, in the lives of all dedicated persons the world over. (Intellectual Properties Management)

After reading the biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, the writer feels that he was destined to change the world. The marches he participated in made a huge difference in how Americans feel about segregation/integration of civil rights. His legacy, to stay awake, adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge (Intellectual Properties Management) gives one a sense of how he wanted to change the world.

Dr. Martin Luther King was a great leader, a person with no fear of the outcome. He became an effective