In 1948 he went to college. His teachers told him to be fair to others and treat all equally. He knew from the Bible that he must
“love your enemies and do good to those who hate you”.
This meant that Martin did not fight or shout back at the white people.
The whites were always looking down onto the blacks this made the blacks angry, but Martin believed that peaceful protests and using methods like marches and strikes would help. He got these ideas from Gandhi a man who wanted India to be free from Britain, but did not think using violence was the right answer.
The division between black and white people was very clear. In Montgomery even where you sat in a bus was a problem, the front seats of busses were for the white passengers, and the blacks would have to sit at the back of the bus. If the bus was full the blacks would have to stand. On the first of December 1955 a black woman called Rosa Parks got on a crowded bus she found a seat at the front of the beginning of the black passenger section. At the next stop some white people got on. Rosa was ordered to give up her seat, she said no as she was very tired and her feet hurt. The bus driver called the police who arrested her!
After a number of these incidents the bus boycott started. This is when the black people did not ride any of the busses. The blacks decided to do this on Monday 5 December this went on for some time, the boycott had worked , even though some of the people had to walk a long way to their work place. In the end the bus companies had to changed their rules. For the first time, American black people had united to protest against the unfair way they had been treated and it worked!
Martin was the president of the boycott meetings they called them self’s the M.I.A (Montgomery Improvement Association). One evening thousands of black people attended the meeting, Martin was to be main speaker. He had no time to prepare for it . all the television cameras would be there. Martin was very worried about what would happen he said a pray to God:-
“Lord, calm me down. Be with me now
when I need your help more than
ever, help me say the right things”.
The speech went well and Martin knew that God was there with him, I think that it influenced Martin to know that God was there, it gave him courage and strength. He said in his speech that we must love our enemies. As a Christian, Martin remembered this from the Bible and he would have been trying to follow the teachings of Jesus and St Paul. This is how Martin began trying to get better conditions for black people. It became know as the Civil Rights Movement.
Martin started to get threatening phone calls from the white people calling him horrible names such as “nigger”. This really upset Martin so he said a pray aloud to God.
“lord, I’m taking a stand for what I believe is right.
I’ve had enough.
I can’t face it alone any more.”
Martin then sensed God was with him he could not explain it, but after that Martin stood up for what he thought was right.
From then on Martin found the next few weeks hard with horrid incidents. One of the worst was when he came home to find his house had been bombed, fortunately no one was hurt. Outside his house were many of his followers wanted to respond violently. This is what he said to them:
“If you have weapons, take them home,
we can’t solve this problem through violence.
We must love our white brothers no matter what they do to us.
We must make them know that we love our enemies.”
Martin was very angry about this but he knew he must not fight back. He met hate with love. He even said that we must love our white brothers like it says in the bible as God is the father, so we our all one family.
Lots of other dreadful events happened to Martin such as being pushed down a pair of stairs by two white policemen he knew. Martin had a lot of suffering and all he wanted to do was help the black people
In 1960 Martin decided to give up being Minister at the Baptist Church in Montgomery. He wanted to give more time to the Civil Rights Movement. It was in the 1960’s that the sit–in was first used by white students who thought the blacks were being treated unfairly. Together they would walk into a sit-in at cafes where blacks and whites should normally keep apart, many suffered for what they did they had their hair pulled out, burnt with cigarette ends, they would be beaten up and many were arrested (including Martin ). Most sit-ins were a success.
The President, in charge of Civil Rights helped and Peace came and a lot of things improved. Then in August 1963, Martin led a march on Washington for “jobs and freedom”. Many people watched white as well as black take part in the march. Half way through the march Martin made his famous speech “I have a dream”. Some whites still thought that blacks should not be treated the same as themselves.
In the autumn of 1964 Martin was told that he had won the Noble Peace Prize. This is an important award given each year to someone who has done a lot to encourage peace or to stop violence. Martin went to Norway to receive the prize. The prize was $54,000 but Martin did not keep the money, he shared it and gave it to organisations which were trying to get equal rights for black people.
In august 1965 the Voting Rights Bill was passed. Blacks now had the same rights as whites to vote. Martin was really pleased by this as it was making the black and white people equal. Martin had always been concerned about all aspects of unfair treatment.
In 1968 Martin went to Memphis, Tennessee. He stepped out onto the balcony to do a speech. Suddenly a shot was fired from the shabby hotel opposite. Martin fell backwards blood gushed from a three inch hole in his neck. He was rushed to hospital. One hour later he was dead. Every one was deeply saddened and very angry about his assassination, there were riots and protests but people knew that this would get them nowhere.
Since 1986, the 3rd Monday each January has been a National Holiday in the United States of America, known as the Martin Luther King Day. It celebrates Martins work in helping the black people to have greater equality and a better life. Two months before he died, Martin had said he would like people to remember him as a man who had given his life to serving others.
On his gravestone the following is written:-
Free at last, free at last
Thank God almighty
I’m free at last
Martin Luther King was a man of strong ideals and principles. He based this on the teachings of the Bible and he was a true Christian. His words and his actions came from the stories and teachings found in the Bible.
