Martin Luther King is America's greatest figure, a fighter for human rights and freedom. A natural speaker became a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and his ideas of equality became the basis for a modern decent society. This man has become a national icon in the fight against segregation in the United States, and most people around the world agree with his opinion.

Childhood and youth

20th century in Europe. Although slavery was abolished in December 1865 due to the civil war, the prejudicial society did not change its attitude towards the colored segments of the population, because the state did nothing at the legislative level to protect black people.

Colored people were infringed on their rights and considered second-class people. They could not get a normal job and were deprived of the right to choose. In America, after the Civil War, unofficial John Crow laws were in effect, according to which the colored minority could not stand on an equal footing with the white person. People with at least a small proportion of Negro blood were attributed to the colored population.

At this time of social strife, Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929 in the city of Atlanta, located in the state of Georgia, in the southern part of America. In the south concentrated most of the Negro population of the middle class.

The boy's father, Martin Luther King Sr., was a pastor in a Baptist church, and his mother, Alberta Williams King, worked as a teacher before marriage. The head of the family was originally called Michael, but he changed his name and that of his son when he was 6 years old.

Martin Jr. was the second child in the family, and not to say that the Kings lived in poverty: the family of the future fighter for equality belonged to the class above the average and lived in abundance.

King was brought up in a strict and religious atmosphere, parents sometimes used physical punishment for misconduct. But Martin Sr. and Alberta Williams tried to protect their son from the rampant racist hatred.

When the boy was 6 years old, his friend, who played with him in the yard, suddenly announced that his mother did not allow him to be friends with Martin anymore, because he was black. After what happened, Alberta Williams tried to console the boy and said that Martin was no worse than others.

When King was 10 years old, he sang in the Baptist church choir. There was a premiere of Gone with the Wind in Atlanta at the time, and the choir participated in the event.

The future politician was developed beyond his years, Martin Luther King studied with honors at a Negro school. The boy did not have to finish grades 9 and 12, as he independently studied the school curriculum and entered Morehouse University as an external student at the age of 15. In 1944, Martin became the winner of a public speaking competition held in Georgia among the colored population.

At a new place of study, King joins the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and learns that both blacks and some whites oppose racism.

In 1948, Martin graduated from the university and received a bachelor's degree in sociology. As a student, Martin Luther King helps his father at the Ebenezer Church. At the workplace of King Sr., the future public figure was a frequent visitor: in 1947, the guy took the rank of assistant in the church.

The politician continues his studies at the Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. There, the future revolutionary receives a doctorate in divinity in 1951, but continues his studies at the Boston graduate school and in 1955 receives a Ph.D.

Activity

Martin Luther King followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, and in 1954 the politician became a pastor in a Baptist church. Throughout his life, a man was driven by the ideas of freedom and equality of people. King possessed extraordinary oratory skills, which he directed in the right direction.

Martin was an active member of the NAPSP, but in 1955 he became the leader of the Montgomery Improvement Association.

Martin Luther King led the Montgomery bus boycott. By informal agreement, colored passengers of transport were not allowed to occupy the first four rows of the bus, which were intended for white citizens. Also, some bus drivers behaved uncivilized and allowed insults against African Americans. Public black activist Rosa Parks refused to give way to a "privileged" man, for which she was arrested by local police. And this is not the first case of public arbitrariness, in the United States there was a frequent practice of arresting innocent black people. The bus driver was not in danger even if he shot an African-American passenger.

Martin Luther King, who disagreed with this social problem, organized a non-violent boycott of transport, in which blacks participated. The protest lasted more than a year, 382 days. Colored people refused to travel by public transport and went on foot calling for freedom and equality. Sometimes African-American car drivers gave rides to the boycotters, but they categorically did not use public transport. About 6 thousand people took part in the action.

The long action was successful, in 1957 the US supreme government decided that the infringement of the rights of other segments of the population in the state of Alabama is contrary to the US constitution, and Time publishes a photo and interview with Martin on the cover.

Not all people supported King, during the protest he was repeatedly attacked, and also tried to blow up the house. Martin Luther King became the idol of the colored population, as well as a symbol of the struggle for equality of freedom and rights. For the method of nonviolent opposition invented by King, Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

King also collected demonstrations for any manifestation of segregation. So, in 1962, Martin joins the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights community. King encouraged university students to take part in the demonstrations. Although Martin Luther King's "movements" were not violent, the police interfered with the demonstrators, for example, by lowering sniffer dogs on protesting students. Martin King himself has been repeatedly arrested.

In 1962, the University of Mississippi admits a black student, James Meredith, who became the first colored student to enroll in an educational institution. In the USA there were special schools for colored people who did not have the right to study on an equal basis with whites.

This was progress in American society, but not everyone agreed with the enrollment of African Americans in universities, for example, the governor of Alabama, George Wallace, agreed with racial prejudice and blocked the path to the university for two black students.

Martin defended the honor and dignity of the infringed on human rights and continued the long-term struggle against segregation.

But the greatest fame for the black figure was brought by another action, which took place in 1963 and expanded political biography Martin. About 300,000 Americans gathered for the March on Washington. King gave the most memorable speech ever, which begins with the words: "I have a dream." Martin glorified racial reconciliation and said that no matter what nationality a person belongs to, the main thing is what is inside him. The leaders of the march met with the President of the United States and discussed socially important issues. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was signed, which prohibited the racial infringement of the rights of colored citizens.

Ideas and views

King's focus was not limited to segregation. This politician advocated the equality and freedom of all citizens of the United States of America, he was dissatisfied with the level of unemployment and hunger.

Martin often traveled and spoke, calling on people to fight for the rights that should be guaranteed to any person from birth. Moreover, according to Martin Luther King, any social struggle should be non-violent, because you can agree with the help of language, and not with the help of riots and wars. Luther wrote many books that became the basis of the doctrine of law and order in society.

Personal life

During his life, Martin Luther was a cheerful man with a surprisingly kind look, he set an example of a family man, a decent husband and father who loves four children. Scott Martin met conservatory student Coretta in 1952 while in Boston.

King's chosen one was liked by his parents, and they agreed to the marriage. In the summer of 1953, King and Coretta got married at the girl's mother's house. Married beloved Martin King Sr.

In the fall of 1954, the King family moved to the state of Alabama in the city of Montgomery, where Martin Luther began his active work.

Death

In February 1968, an African-American scavenger strike was organized in Memphis, Tennessee. The workers were unhappy with the non-payment of wages, as well as the conditions and attitude of the authorities, which was similar to segregation: whites had a number of privileges and could not work due to bad weather, unlike blacks, who had to collect garbage even in a thunderstorm.

People turned to the rights activist Martin Luther King, the only defender of the colored strata of the population.

On April 3, King traveled back to Tennessee, but the policy had to change flights, as a bomb threat was discovered on the plane. In the city, a public figure booked room 306 at the Lorain Motel.

A day later, Martin Luther King stood on the balcony of the room, while the white-skinned criminal James Earl Ray aimed a rifle at the politician. James fired once, hitting Martin Luther King Jr. in the jaw. The politician died at St. Joseph's Hospital at 19:05. On the eve of his death, Martin gave the speech "I was at the top of the mountain." The audience remembered a quote from the speech:

“Like anyone, I would like to live a long life. Longevity matters. But I don't think about it now. I just want to do the will of the Lord.”

James was caught by the police: the young man wrote a sincere confession. The guy believed that for a guilty plea, the punishment would be mitigated. In court, the criminal was given 99 years in prison. Then Ray said that he did not commit the murder, but the court insisted on the guilt of the defendant.

However, there are many obscure and cloudy circumstances in the case of King's murder. For example, it remains unknown what weapon the sniper used for the murder, and there is no clear evidence of James's involvement in the assassination attempt on King. Martin's wife was dissatisfied with the court's decision, because, in her opinion, the death of her husband was not to blame for the criminal who escaped from prison for theft, but for a political conspiracy. Therefore, Coretta was saddened by the news of the death of Ray, the only witness.

Who killed Martin King, and with what rifle, is a mystery that has not yet been solved.

In memory of a political figure in America, every third Monday of January, the federal "Martin Luther King Day" is celebrated. Finally, the holiday took root only in 2000.

Also filmed in memory of Martin documentaries telling about his activities. The grave is at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

Quotes

Martin Luther King is famous for his statements not only about human rights, but also about morality. Courage, courage, perseverance and nobility are perhaps a small part of the characteristics that the American politician possessed.

• Love is the only force that can turn any enemy into a friend.
• If a person has not discovered something for himself for which he is ready to die, he is not able to fully live.
• If someone told me that the world would end tomorrow, I would plant a tree today.
• Scientific research has overtaken spiritual development. We have guided missiles and unruly people.
• The ultimate measure of a person's worth is not how he behaves in times of comfort and convenience, but how he holds himself in times of struggle and contradictions.
• Cowardice asks - is it safe? Expediency asks - is it prudent? Vanity asks - is it popular? But conscience asks - is it right? And there comes a time when one has to take a position that is neither safe nor prudent nor popular, but one has to take it because it is right.

All forms of protest by African Americans in the 50s - 70s. can be divided into spontaneous and organized.

Black ghetto uprisings in the 1960s are commonly referred to as spontaneous protests by African Americans. The organized movement of African Americans for their rights was not homogeneous: it can be divided into non-violent forms of protest with the central figure of Martin Luther King and terrorist forms, led by the Black Panthers.

Martin Luther King, leader of the US black rights movement, was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of a local Baptist church pastor. Despite the disadvantaged position of the black population in the southern states, the King family was by no means one of the most humiliated and disadvantaged sections of the Negro society, on the contrary, hereditary pastors, the Kings were part of the local peculiar “African American” elite and could boast of a rather strong average income. King was also destined for a career as a pastor and the corresponding education, although in his early youth he was sometimes visited by other dreams: to become, for example, a doctor. But family traditions turned out to be stronger, and the first decades of King's life are a calm movement along the trajectory destined for received at birth social status. A high school, a Negro men's college in Atlanta, then a theological seminary in Chester, and finally Boston University. The last King graduated in 1955 with a dissertation and a Ph.D. Here, in Boston, he met his future wife, Coretta Scott, whose wedding was played in June 1953. In June 1955, King took up the post of pastor of the Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. King, a hereditary priest, was a new type of pastor. He was not satisfied with the usual education for a preacher.

Wealthy and comparatively secure black youths studied at the universities. Their peers experienced great humiliation, but the students experienced their situation more acutely, looking for a way out for their people, their generation. Someone, denying American racism, denied America; some joined the Communist Party, others were attracted by black Muslims who hated the white "race of devils." King, son of a pastor and grandson of a pastor, was different. He was a model American, only black.

King was especially influenced by Gandhi, who preached the ideas of mass non-violent action. “Let us fill the prisons with ourselves,” was the slogan of the fighters for the independence of India.

Nowhere in the United States at that time was racism more pronounced than in Montgomery. The cradle of the rebellious Southern Confederacy, the city prided itself on its status as the "capital of racism" a century later, constantly confirming it with humiliating segregation restrictions, Ku Klux Klan activities, and systematic harassment of the black population. King came to this city, by no means intending to organize some kind of “black revolution” in it, but only to lead the ordinary life of an ordinary Baptist pastor.

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, a tired black woman boarded a bus. The dressmaker Rosa Parks ended a hard day's work, she sat down in the "black" seat. There were more and more passengers, the driver demanded that the blacks give way to the whites. Those were the rules, everyone stood up. Everyone except Rosa Parks. The driver called the police. The woman was arrested and released on bail.

The reaction of the blacks was unusual, they organized a protest. The leaders of the black community were priests, among whom stood out the 27-year-old rector of the Baptist church, Martin Luther King.

Black community leaders called for a bus boycott, which hit the city's finances hard. The streets took on an unusual look: a lot of black pedestrians, the buses were empty. The slogan "Walking for freedom" was popular, but the organizers of the boycott were realists, they organized a passenger transportation bureau, bought several buses. When the court declared the creation of the bureau illegal, black car owners began to give their neighbors a lift according to a special schedule. Good organization lifted the spirits of the boycott participants, and sermons were heard in the churches calling for the continuation of the peaceful struggle.

America's attention was riveted on Montgomery. A federal district court and later the U.S. Supreme Court found Alabama's bus segregation laws unconstitutional.

The struggle for civil rights took on a broad mass character. It was led by organizations that arose during the course of the struggle itself - the Southern Council of Christian Leadership (SAC) led by M. L. King, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SCNCC), as well as organizations of black Americans: the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NASPC), National Urban League (NGL), Congress of Racial Equality (CRR).

The movement of the Negro population was met with protest from white Americans: stones were thrown at buses with black passengers, they were shot at; Bombs exploded near churches, near the houses of the organizers of the boycott; black priests guarded their dwellings at night. Already during the boycott, threats constantly rained down on King, and on January 30, 1956, a bomb exploded in his house, and King's relatives were literally miraculously not affected. The young pastor faced a difficult choice: give up the fight for the safety of himself and his family, or continue the fight in line with the tactics of non-violence he had chosen under the influence of Gandhi. He chose the second.

The confrontation between supporters and opponents of segregation took on the character of a crusade, a life-and-death battle. Some were ready to kill, defending their principles. Others went to their deaths for a just cause. King told his flock, his supporters: “Before we win freedom, rivers of blood will be shed. But it must be our blood." The gospel commandments helped the generations of black slaves to survive. Their descendants turned faith into a weapon of radical politics. They called the young pastor their Moses.

King himself was arrested in a white restaurant in the fall of 1960 and sentenced to hard labor. Black Americans were outraged. J.F. Kennedy, who fought for the presidency, called King's wife and expressed his sympathy, and the Democratic campaign headquarters helped free the black leader. No wonder there are a lot of blacks on presidential elections voted for Kennedy. They believed that new president introduce anti-racism laws into Congress, as King hoped.

However, Kennedy was in no hurry: he could not ignore the position of conservative congressmen and senators. However, the time to act was approaching. Black J. Meredith in 1962 wished to study at the University of Mississippi, the old school of white gentlemen. The armed crowd did not let the student in, although he was accompanied by bailiffs, bricks and bottles flew at them. Kennedy sent troops. Meredith attended classes under the protection of hundreds of soldiers. And this was not an isolated case.

King criticized the administration for being slow. He said that the United States had a plan for an expedition to the moon, while the plan for electing a black deputy in Alabama looked more fantastic. According to King, it was necessary to push the government, his team was preparing for a decisive battle. The battlefield was Birmingham (Alabama). Its authorities preached racism, a victory here would lead to a breakthrough on a national scale. The objects of the "attack" were carefully selected, the secret schedule of actions was specified. Hundreds of volunteers were trained to refrain from violence under all circumstances. Money was collected all over the country to pay the fines.

In 1963 the movement entered a new phase. One day in Birmingham, black students walked into a "white" diner and politely asked for a Coke. They were not served, but they sat patiently until closing time. The next day they came again with friends. Day by day the number of friends increased.

And in other cities, black activists rushed to "white" cafes, restaurants, bars, despite the resistance they encountered. Then the black patrons went to white libraries, white shops, white parks, white toilets. These actions were in defiant violation of the laws of a number of states. Participants in the movement received sentences, terms and fines.

In April 1963, 40 volunteers went into active action: some sat down in "white" places in eateries, others picketed buildings. A boycott of stores began. In the following days, hundreds of people went out to participate in demonstrations and pickets, they were arrested. Finally, the demonstration was led by King himself, he was also arrested. King's employees believed that the leader of the action should have remained at large. But the black leader believed his arrest would serve the movement better.

More and more people joined the movement, the prisons were overcrowded, public buildings were adapted for places of detention. The police began to take harsh measures against the demonstrators, they began to beat them, they were directed by jets of powerful water cannons. But thousands of unusually silent, festively dressed black teenagers came to churches and after the sermon went to demonstrations.

The events in Birmingham became news No. 1 for the press, for television. Stunning pictures appeared on the front pages of newspapers: dogs biting schoolchildren; police dragging women by the legs. The authorities were opposed by disciplined, neat, religious citizens with the US flag. The moral advantage was on the side of the demonstrators. King won the hearts of white America. The fear of violence also grew. In the black neighborhoods, indignation intensified, the authorities feared an explosion. Businessmen who suffered losses made concessions, but the Alabama authorities rejected the compromise.

In Birmingham, the entire arsenal of means of non-violent struggle was used. These events were a turning point in the struggle of African Americans for their civil rights. But the supporters of segregation intensified opposition. Victims increased, and attacks were made on activists of the right movement and on ordinary people. An explosion outside a church in May 1963 claimed the lives of four girls attending Sunday school.

Terror caused indignation and expanded the ranks of the participants in the movement. In August 1963, a grandiose march on Washington took place, 250 thousand people gathered at the rally. King delivered his most famous speech:

“Today I tell you, my friends, that despite all the hardships and difficulties, I still have a dream.

I dream that one day, in the wonderful hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and former slave owners will be able to sit side by side at the table of brotherhood.

I dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, exhausted by oppression and injustice, will turn into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I dream that one day my four little children will live in a country where they will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the integrity of their nature.

I have a dream..."

The crowd yelled at King, "Dream some more."

The American administration had to act. Shortly before his death, Kennedy submitted a civil rights bill to Congress. President Johnson used the atmosphere after the assassination of his predecessor to push this bill forward. Various motives led President Johnson to take a markedly positive stance on the Civil Rights Bill. Of no small importance were the circumstances connected with the forthcoming election campaign in 1964. But main reason the growing struggle of the Negro masses and their allies still remained.

On June 10, the Senate voted 71 to 29 to end the protracted debate. This was the second time in 29 years that the Senate had taken such a decision, and the first time on the issue of civil rights. On June 19, the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 73 to 2. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in voter registration, racial and other discrimination in public places, restaurants, cafes, cinemas, sports facilities, concert halls, parks, swimming pools, libraries etc.; the law empowered the Department of Justice to take legal action over segregation in schools, and also provided for financial and technical assistance to school districts to implement desegregation. Federally funded programs prohibited racial discrimination in businesses with at least 100 employees (within four years, this provision was to be extended to businesses with at least 50 employees). A bipartisan Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was established.

Being a step forward towards the recognition of the formal equality of the Negro population, the 1964 law was of a half-hearted nature, which was reflected in a large number of reservations and restrictions. For example, with the low educational level of the black population in the South, especially among older blacks, the law gave legal grounds to exclude thousands of blacks from participation in elections. In addition, the law applied only to the election of the President and members of the US Congress, while the elections in the states and localities still had to be held on the basis of the laws that existed there, many of which were clearly discriminatory. Discrimination in restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, and other public places was prohibited only in cases where the bulk of the goods and most of the entertainment were related to interstate commerce, and housing was rented to transit passengers or interstate travelers. We add that the law did not apply to hairdressers, retail stores, bars, bowling alleys, etc.

The law prohibited the Commission on Civil Rights from investigating the practice of admission to membership of various kinds of "brotherhoods", clubs, religious and some other public organizations and their activities, if it concerned only their members. A section of the Equal Employment and Employment Opportunity Act stipulated that its provisions did not apply to members of the Communist Party of the United States or other "communist action or communist front" organizations.

The law was largely declarative in nature. He slightly expanded the powers of the Justice Department to initiate legal proceedings in case of violation of articles prohibiting discrimination. However, the law provided for a very complicated and lengthy procedure for appealing claims of racial discrimination. From those who decided to start such a lawsuit, it took a lot of effort, time, money, not to mention the ability to understand complex legal casuistry, and finally, the law did not provide for severe punishment of those guilty of discriminatory practices.

Despite the imperfection of the law, the adoption of the bill was a serious victory, the achievement of which, of course, was associated with the name of Martin Luther King. Back in 1963, Time named him Man of the Year. On the next year the famous Protestant priest was received by the pope. King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The famous winner continued to fight. Now the focus of his attention was the question of the rights of voters: in the southern states, the authorities different ways did not allow blacks to vote. King led new demonstrations, once again he was behind bars. The list of new victims grew. Beaten, crippled, dead members of the movement. But in 1965, a law on equal suffrage was passed, and federal officials began to register voters' lists.

However, the long-awaited laws could not instantly improve the situation of millions of Negroes, whose expectations were so high. The life of the black poor in the megacities of the North has not changed. In Harlem, King was greeted with rotten eggs, called "Uncle Tom" fighting for "toilet integration". Negro youth proclaimed the slogan "Power to the blacks!" and reached for the weapon. King's former associates were also the ideologists of this movement.

King tried to resist the violence. He paid more and more attention to social problems. major cities, but not all of his supporters were willing to participate in the relevant actions. King's tactics proved successful in the fight against gross segregation in the South, but they were not particularly effective in the North. King criticized the Vietnam War, which also split the civil rights front, but he continued to be the most famous leader in black America.

King was imprisoned about 30 times, he was threatened and blackmailed, he survived several attempts on his life; every day they slandered him, tried to destroy his family, quarrel with friends. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was shot dead by a sniper on the doorstep of his hotel room in Memphis, where he had come to support a black scavenger strike. Although the killer was later caught, the circumstances of the crime remained largely unexplained.

The funeral of the "black president" became a national event. The farewell ceremony was attended by stars of politics, show business and sports. Flags were flown at half mast and President Johnson delivered a special message to the nation.

The first thing that catches your eye when you try to give general characteristics King's activities, of course, his role in establishing true racial equality in the United States. The process of this establishment dragged on for many years, and, apparently, it cannot be considered completely completed to this day. At its source stands the monumental figure of Abraham Lincoln, who achieved the abolition of slavery and won the war with the rebellious southern Confederacy of slave states. But the formal fall of slavery turned out to be only the first step towards the true emancipation of blacks: black Americans in the South did not receive in the 60s. 19th century equal rights with whites. In the southern states, a segregation regime was soon established, in which the "black" and "white" populations lived separately, and the privileges here belonged to the whites. Blacks were closed to the polls, expensive restaurants and city parks, they were not served in prestigious stores and were not allowed into eateries. People usually talk in this connection about the half-heartedness of the successes of the "American Revolution" of the 19th century, but this half-heartedness itself was deeply logical. It is possible to abolish slavery by one legal act, but it cannot be abolished in the same way, on the one hand, slave psychology on the other - the mentality of racism. The fall of slavery meant only the beginning of a long journey: for blacks - to gaining their own dignity, for whites - to the elimination of the "master" psychology. It took a century since the Civil War before African Americans, in the person of King and his followers, declared their readiness to become full citizens of America. King, because of this, is a deeply symbolic figure: if in the 19th century. Negroes were liberated from above by the “white” Lincoln, granting the Negro a freedom that was not yet very clear to him, then in the 20th century. the black population in the person of King and his followers demonstrated that they had learned to appreciate this freedom, use it and are ready to fight for it.

In the struggle for freedom, various paths could be chosen, and before King, Negro human rights organizations practiced both "legal methods" and tactics of armed resistance. But it was King who resolutely directed the movement of African Americans into the mainstream of “direct” non-violent action, which, firstly, gave this movement an unprecedented mass character and strength, and secondly, kept America from sliding into the horrors of civil war. King, therefore, eventually managed to achieve brilliant success in the struggle for the freedom of blacks, and not flood the path to this freedom with rivers of blood.

King's death confirmed the correctness of his chosen direction. It seemed that she was supposed to put an end to the hopes for the possibility of a peaceful struggle. The day after King's assassination, racist America quietly celebrated its triumph, and black ghettos in American cities erupted in riots as radical leaders called for uncompromising war on all whites without distinction. But in an incomprehensible way, the name of King continued his work even after his death. A wave of violence rose and fell. Desegregation gained and gained momentum, as if there was no tragic death of the “black Moses”: Congress soon passed another law prohibiting discrimination in housing. And after the official policy, the mass consciousness also reached out. Schools, private companies, public organizations one by one voluntarily abandoned segregation. No one is surprised anymore by a black secretary of state or a black national security adviser.

The very figure of King seemed to continue to grow: foundations named after him were established, monuments and streets named after him appeared, and in 1983 King received an honor that was once unthinkable for an African American: his birthday on January 20 became a public holiday. King was the first black American to have a bust erected in the Great Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington. And, without any doubt, King has now become one of the symbols of the country with which and for which he fought, wanting to make it truly free, and to liberate blacks and whites alike. For those who oppress others cannot be completely free themselves.

He remained in the history of America as a liberator and, moreover, a bloodless liberator. And the readiness to sacrifice oneself for the sake of others and for the sake of faith gives King the features of a Christian martyr, and the Catholic Church recognized him as such, a Protestant priest.

King foresaw his death - it was not difficult - and in a farewell tape made in case of his sudden death, he addressed for the last time to all those who believed in him and followed him.

“I want you to be able to say that day that I was trying to feed the hungry.

I want you to be able to say in that day that in my lifetime I tried to clothe the naked.

I want you to say that day that in my lifetime I tried to visit those who are in prison.

And I want you to say that I tried to love humanity and serve it.

After me there will be no luxurious, beautiful things. But I want to leave behind a life devoted to the cause.

And that's all I want to say."

Thus, King remained in the history of the twentieth century. as a figurehead for the civil rights movement. He showed how a minority can effectively use democracy to achieve their goals. The civil rights movement broke the law and used the law. Violating state laws, King and his supporters forced the government to adopt and enforce federal laws. Striving for revolutionary change, King used tradition, religion, and national myths. He did not oppose democracy to patriotism, he appealed to American values, but at the same time he skillfully used world public opinion to put pressure on the United States, sometimes blackmailing the country's political elite.



King Martin Luther (1929-1968), American clergyman and public figure, one of the leaders in the struggle for the civil rights of African Americans.

At the age of 15 he entered Morehouse College in Atlanta, in 1951 he graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, and in 1955 received a doctorate in theology from Boston University. In 1954, he became the minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and became widely known as a fighter for the civil rights of the black population.

In January 1957, King took part in the creation of the "Southern Christian Leadership Conference", the purpose of which was to coordinate the efforts of human rights associations. He moved to Atlanta (1960) and devoted himself entirely to this organization.

In 1960-1961 King initiated sit-ins and "freedom marches"; was arrested several times for violating laws that he considered discriminatory. He was a highly educated man and saw racial segregation (the policy of forcibly separating a population group along racial or ethnic lines) as the most acute moral and social problem in America.

In 1963, King wrote a letter from a Birmingham prison (Alabama), in which he called on the clergy to support the struggle for equal rights for all citizens. In 1964, the United States passed the Negro Civil Rights Act, and a year later, the Voting Rights Act.

King's role in the non-violent struggle to pass a law that destroyed the remnants of racial discrimination in the United States was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1964). Starting out as a bourgeois liberal, King last years life came to an understanding of the social essence of the racial problem and the need for social reforms; urged African Americans to unite with white workers. In 1968, he created the Poor People's Campaign to unite the poor of all races in the fight against poverty.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee by racist James Earl Ray.
Mass Negro unrest - "April riots" (April riots), which broke out after the assassination of King, were brutally suppressed by the authorities.

In 1964, Martin Luther King was awarded Nobel Prize world for success in the democratization of American society. He really wanted to completely destroy racial prejudice so that black and white people could finally coexist in America on completely equal terms.

His father Michael King was the pastor of a Baptist church in Atlanta, Georgia. One day in 1934, Father Michael went to travel around Europe, visited Germany. There he became acquainted with the teachings of the German reformer Martin Luther and was so impressed by his work that he decided to take his name for himself and his five-year-old son. Since then, their names were Martin Luther King Sr. and Martin Luther King Jr. By this act, King the Elder obliged his son and himself to follow the teachings of an eminent German priest and theologian.

Later, college and school teachers noted that in terms of ability, Martin Jr. was significantly superior to other peers. He passed all the exams with excellent marks, studied well, sang in the church choir.

At the age of 10, he was invited to the premiere of Gone with the Wind and sang a song there. At 13, Martin managed to enter the Lyceum at the University of Atlanta, 2 years later he became the winner of the speakers, held by the African American organization of Georgia. He once again proved his outstanding abilities by entering Morehouse College, passing the exams high school externally.

In 1947, Martin became a minister and assistant in Father Martin Luther King Jr. Baptist Church. At the same time, he decided not to leave his studies and the next year he entered the theological seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. There, in 1951, he was awarded a bachelor's degree in theology. At Boston University, he received his Ph.D. in June 1955.

Life after school and the beginning of active work

After graduation, Martin Luther took over. At the Montgomery Baptist Church, he became a black protest leader against racial segregation. The root cause was an incident that happened to black Rosa Paquet when she was asked to leave the bus. She refused to do this, drawing the attention of opponents to the fact that an equal citizen of America is. This woman was supported by the entire black population of the city. A boycott of all buses was declared for a year. King Jr. took the case to the Supreme Court. Segregation was declared unconstitutional by the court, and then the authorities surrendered.

The above situation is a bloodless and non-violent resistance to the authorities. Further, Martin Luther decided to fight for the equal rights of blacks regarding education. AT Supreme Court The United States filed a lawsuit against the authorities of those states where blacks were not allowed to study on an equal basis with whites. The court recognized the correctness of this claim, since the separate education of whites and blacks was contrary to the American constitution.

The first serious problems and danger to life

The opponents of the unification of blacks and whites began to prey on King Jr., as his speeches brought thousands of blacks and whites together and were very effective. He became for many influential people like a bone in the throat.

In 1958, at one of his many performances, he was stabbed in the chest. Martin was immediately taken to the hospital, his life was saved, and after treatment he continued his campaign. He was often shown on television, wrote about him in newspapers. Martin Luther became very popular politician and the leader, the pride of the black population of absolutely all states.

In 1963 he was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace. Once in the Birmingham prison, he was soon released, as no crime was found. In the same year, Martin Jr. was received by US President John F. Kennedy. After meeting him, he climbed the steps of the Capitol and gave his famous speech to the crowd of thousands, which everyone today knows as "I have a dream."

Last performance

In 1968, during a speech to demonstrators in Memphis, he was shot at and this shot turned out to be fatal. At that moment, black America lost its most faithful defender, who dreamed of equality in the country and gave his own life for it. Since then, the third Monday of January is celebrated in the United States as Martin Luther King Day and is a national holiday.

The work of Martin Luther the Younger was continued by his wife Coretta Scott King. She continued her nonviolent resistance to segregation, discrimination, colonialism, racism, and the like.

Essay

in informatics

"Martin Luther King"

Syromyatnikov Georgy 145 group

He who accepts evil without resistance becomes its accomplice.

It is this statement that perfectly characterizes everything that is connected with the name of M. L. King. He was ordinary person, an ordinary person who changed the world.
Biography

Born into the family of a Baptist priest. In 1944, King entered Morehouse College. During this period he became a member National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1947, King took the priesthood, becoming his father's assistant in the church. After receiving a bachelor's degree in sociology from the college in 1948, he entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, where he received a bachelor's degree in divinity in 1951. In 1955 Boston University he was awarded a doctorate in theology.

In 1954, King became a minister at the Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. In Montgomery, he led a major black protest against racial segregation in public transport, where in December 1955 there was an incident with Rosa Parks. Bus boycott in Montgomery, which lasted more than 380 days, despite the resistance of the authorities and racists, led to the success of the action - the US Supreme Court recognized segregation in Alabama as unconstitutional.

In January 1957, King was elected head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization set up to fight for the civil rights of the black population.

In September 1958 he was stabbed in Harlem. In 1960, King, by invitation Jawaharlal Nehru visited India where he studied activity Mahatma Gandhi.

In his speeches (some of which are now considered classics of oratory), he called for achieving equality by peaceful means. His speeches gave energy to the civil rights movement in society - marches began, economic boycotts, mass exoduses in prisons and so on. As a result, it was created Act of Rights approved and accepted Congress.

Martin Luther King's famous speech " I have a dream"("I have a dream"), which during the march on the Washington in year at the foot of the monument Lincoln listened to about 300 thousand Americans.

King's role in the non-violent struggle to pass a law that destroyed the remnants of racial discrimination, was marked Nobel Peace Prize.

^ Information about his activities

King became minister at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1954, serving there until January 1960, when he reunited with his father at Ebenezer Church. In Montgomery, King organized social action committees, raised funds for the NAPSP ( National Association Progress of Colored People) as a member of the local executive committee of this association. After the incident with Rosa Parks (a seamstress was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger), the Improvement Association was formed in December 1955 in Montgomery, and King became its president. Remaining doubtful about the justification for the non-white boycott of Montgomery's bus transportation, King hesitated whether he should accept the post and agreed, recalling a quote from Thoreau: "It is no longer possible to cooperate with the vicious system." On the evening of December 5, King delivered what he later recalled as the decisive speech of his life. "There is no alternative to resistance," King told the audience and expressed confidence that the protest would help get rid of "the patience that makes one settle for less than freedom and justice." Under King's leadership, the Negro community boycotted Montgomery's transportation for 382 days. In November 1956, the US Supreme Court found the Alabama segregation law unconstitutional. In December, blacks and whites shared buses for the first time. King gained national fame, in February 1957 his portrait appeared on the cover of Time magazine. The civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century, to which King joined, had its roots in the pre-war years. NAPSN and the Congress of Racial Equality, such labor leaders as A. Philip Randolph, took a number of steps in favor of the equality of Negroes. Their achievements culminated in the 1954 Brown v. Topeka Board of Education trial. The Supreme Court has ended segregation in education by ruling that separate education for whites and blacks breeds inequality and is therefore contrary to the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. King's unique contribution to the cause of human rights made possible his commitment to the principles of Christian philosophy. King considered the activities of Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the passive resistance movement, thanks to which India was freed from British rule, as an example for himself. "Gandhi's philosophy of non-violent resistance," King once declared, "is the only method justified in the struggle for freedom." The Montgomery boycott, during which King's house was blown up and he was arrested, made him a hero in the black community in the United States. In January 1957, southern black leaders formed an alliance of church civil rights organizations called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), of which King was elected president. At the same time, King, a recognized advocate for the rights of people of color, wrote the book "Step to Freedom. The Montgomery Story" ("Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story"). In September 1958, while signing autographs in Harlem, he was stabbed in the chest by a mentally ill woman. rights aimed at eliminating segregation in transport, theaters, restaurants, etc. He traveled throughout the country, giving lectures, and was arrested 15 times.In 1960, at the invitation of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he spent a month in India, where he deepened his acquaintance with the activities of Gandhi.In March - April 1963, King led mass demonstrations in Birmingham (Alabama) against segregation at work and at home, one of the slogans was the creation of committees of citizens of various races.The police dispersed the demonstrators (among which there were many children) with dogs, water cannons and clubs. For violating the ban on demonstrations, King was arrested for 5 days. During this time, he wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to white religious to the leaders of the city, who reproached him for "imprudent and untimely actions." “In fact, time has no meaning,” King wrote. “The progress of mankind does not roll on the wheels of inevitability. It comes as a result of the tireless efforts of people who do God's will, without which time becomes an ally of the forces of stagnation in society.” Despite occasional outbreaks, tensions in Birmingham eased as white and black leaders reached an agreement on desegregation. In 1963, King, together with his deputy Ralph Abernathy, the founder of the Congress of Racial Equality Bayard Rustin and other leaders, organized the largest civil rights demonstration in US history. On August 28, about 250,000 whites and blacks gathered in Washington as civil rights legislation was debated in the US Congress. On the same day, Negro leaders conferred with President John F. Kennedy. Later, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King gave a speech expressing his belief in the brotherhood of man; the speech became widely known under the name "I have a dream" - these words sound like a refrain in the text of the speech. King's book "Why We Can't Wait" was published in 1964. In May-June of that year, King participated in demonstrations for housing integration held in St. (Fla.) A month later, President Lindon B. Johnson invited him to White House , where K. was present at the signing of the bill of dwellings, which became part of the 1964 law on civil rights. The law forbade segregation in public places and at work, in working conditions and wages. At the end of the year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In his opening speech, the representative of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Gunnar Jahn, noted: "Although Martin Luther King is not involved in international affairs, his struggle serves the cause of peace ... In the Western world, he was the first to show that struggle does not necessarily mean violence." In his Nobel Lecture, King said: "Non-violence means that my people have endured all these years patiently without inflicting suffering on others ... It means that we no longer experience fear. But it does not follow that we want to intimidate those or others, or even the society of which we are a part. The movement does not seek to emancipate blacks at the expense of the humiliation and enslavement of whites. It does not want victory over anyone. It wants the liberation of American society and participation in the self-liberation of the whole people." In March 1965, King organized a march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery under the slogan of enfranchisement, but did not participate in the march himself. After the demonstrators were attacked by traffic police, King called for a new march. More than 3,000 white and black demonstrators took part, and more than 25,000 joined them along the way. On August 6, President Johnson signed the suffrage bill, and King was invited to Washington and attended the signing ceremony. While traveling around the country. In 1967, King published Where Do We Go From Here? ("Where do We go from here?"). In April, he openly spoke out against the Vietnam War. King addressed a large anti-war rally in Washington with a message; became co-chairman of the organization "Priests and laity alarmed by the events in Vietnam." In the last years of his life, King's attention was drawn not only to racism, but also to the problem of unemployment, hunger and poverty throughout America. Expanding horizons made it necessary to support the radical circles of Negro youth during the riots in the ghettos of Watts, Newark, Harlem and Detroit, which were contrary to the principles of non-violence. King became aware that racial discrimination was closely linked to the problem of poverty. But he did not have time to create a program on this issue, which explains the failure of efforts to improve living conditions in the slums of Chicago in 1966. However, in November 1967 King announced the beginning of the Poor People's Campaign, which was to end in April 1968 with the gathering of poor whites and blacks in Washington. On March 28, 1968, King led a 6,000-strong protest march in downtown Memphis, Tennessee to support striking workers. A few days later, speaking in Memphis, he said: “We have difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter. you, but I want you to know now that all of us, all the people will see this Earth." The next day, King was hit by a sniper while standing on the balcony of the Memphis Lorraine Motel. He died of his wound at St. Joseph's Hospital and was buried in Atlanta. King's activities are studied and continued by the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. In 1983, the US Congress rejected a proposal to celebrate K.'s birthday on the third Monday in January. However, on January 16, 1986, a bust of Martin Luther King was erected in the Great Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington - a black American was honored for the first time. On January 20, 1986, the nation celebrated the first Martin Luther King Day
^

List of works

1. 
   The book "The Path to Freedom", 1958
2. 
   Martin's Why We Can't Wait, 1963
3. 
   "Love your enemies..."
4. 
   "Doctor King's Dictionary of Nonviolence"
5. 
   "Words of Wisdom"
6. 
   "Pilgrimage to non-violence" Ethical thought. Scientific and journalistic readings.

Sources

Martin Luther King // People's History http://www.peoples.ru/state/priest/m_l_king/index.html

Martin Luther King - Biography // The Nobel Foundation http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

Racial segregation // Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. // Information Please Database http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mlkbiospot.html

Children's encyclopedia "I know the world"

Robert Miller - Martin Luther King. Life, suffering and greatness