Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of a Baptist Minister. Following in his fathers footsteps he was ordained a Baptist Minister at just 18. He then attended university where professors praised him for the impression he made in public speeches he gave and discussions he was involved in, skills that he would use in his famous speeches as leader of the American civil rights movement. While at university he studied Ghandi and his teachings on non-violent protests. Gandhi who managed to achieve Indian independence from Britain peacefully. King felt like God sent him to use his public speaking ability to campaign against segregation.
King had a leading role in the Montgomery bus strike, he was elected as the president of the Montgomery improvement society. The black people were protesting against the Montgomery bus company because they introduced a rule saying that a black person had to give up their seat for a white person. He was chosen by Egdar D. Nixon, a leader of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People), who was impressed by the power and emotion in his speeches. The protest lasted for more than a year and demonstrated a new spirit of protest among southern blacks. King also made a positive impact on white people outside southern USA, due to his nonviolent philosophy and appeals to Christian nature. During the protest, King’s house was bombed but despite this danger to him and his family, he carried on, showing he lived through hardship to do God’s work as a disciple.
He organized many peaceful demonstrations against the poor treatment of black people in the U.S.A, many of which were a success. During one of the demonstrations, King was arrested and sent to jail. The same happened to Jesus, (Mark: 14:43-51), proving again that he was willing to face hardship to carry out his work as a disciple of Jesus. King’s “Letter from Birmingham City Jail”, which argued that individuals had the moral right and responsibility to disobey unjust laws was similar to when Jesus healed a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath. “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill”, (Mark: 3:4). Like Jesus, King was prepared to disobey laws if it meant working for the greater good, again showing he was a good disciple by following Jesus’ message.
Luther King’s efforts as leader of the civil rights movement led to the civil rights act of 1964, which prohibited segregation in public places amongst other things. Due to this achievement and his highly visible Christian moral stance he was awarded the coveted 1964 Nobel Prize for peace. But all good things come to an end, King would make the ultimate sacrifice for his cause.
In 1968 King was assassinated by a white racist. Thanks to his strong leadership of the civil rights movement, black people now have equal rights. After his death he came to represent courage and achievement in his struggle for equal rights. He also proved the effectiveness of peaceful demonstrations. He showed great devotion to God as a disciple, through his peaceful philosophy and his motto “meet hate with love”.