He was the first non violent African American leader and helped others to achieve many great things. He has led many large protests, such as Birmingham, that were noticed all over the world. When King was thirty five years of age, he received a Nobel Peace Prize. Unfortunately, his reign came to an abrupt end on April 4, 1968, when he was assassinated. King was an extremely charismatic person which made him the perfect spokesperson and leader for the Movement.
I believe that the contribution of Martin Luther King was huge for the Civil Rights Campaign, however many important campaigners were overshadowed by King who possibly got too much credit when it was due elsewhere. King had a giant effect on the progress of the advancement of black civil rights. The first major part he played in improving the social standing of black civilians was in his role governing the Montgomery Bus Boycott between 1955 and 1956. This boycott aimed to achieve, which it eventually did, the desegregation of public buses, which was partly initiated by Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat for a white man when asked to do so, who was then arrested. King was invited to lead the body which was coordinating the boycott, the Montgomery Improvement Association, so he was not responsible for creating and starting off this successful campaign, however his alluring personality and leadership skills helped motivate the campaign brilliantly.
Peaceful protests were an effective method of the civil rights movement and brought African Americans a lot of success. Peaceful protests brought in a lot of support from African Americans as well as white Americans and the amount of support that turned up to these protests helped push through the legal battles. One prime example of such protest was the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955, which was very significant as African Americans learnt that they had great economic power. The Montgomery bus boycott was especially important as it resulted in the formation of the SCLC and showed that with planning and a large amount of support any protest could be pursued into a law court case as two months after the boycott had started, the legal battle of “Browder vs Gayle” took place. The court case and the peaceful protest together managed to overturn Transport segregation in Alabama.
There were many other civil right groups such as SNCC, who helped organise The Sit-ins of 1960; NAACP, who also aided The Montgomery Bus Boycott; and The Black Panthers, a more Militant group whose main cause was to empower Black people. It is my opinion that whilst Martin Luther King played a significant part in the black civil rights campaign, the other Civil Rights groups should not be ignored for the part they played. Martin Luther King was a key figurehead in the advancement of black Americans. He was known around the World for taking part in several Civil Rights campaigns. He was a highly intelligent man, coming from a higher-class background.
Firstly, his character traits including his oratory skills, his Nobel Peace Prize and his famous I Have A Dream speech were instrumental in his success as the face of the Civil Rights campaign. His oratory skills was the key component that got Martin Luther King famous, when he moved to Montgomery it was this skill that got him to the top so quickly. These made him a successful leader because it allowed him to motivationally communicate with his fellow African American followers. An example of great motivation in his speech would be his ‘I Have a Dream Speech’ at the March on Washington in 1963, this was his most famous speech, he spoke to at least 250,000 supporters and motivated them completely and got the civil rights act that followed was a true reminder of his skill. However his leadership skills were strained when it came to the Birmingham, Alabama protest that was a huge disappointment.
Black Power movements that included the Black panthers couldn’t be ignored if progress continued to be delayed. Black community radicals would fall into a violent struggle which could have been avoided but ended with confrontations and headline media attention. There was an increase in fashionable icons in areas like music and sports. In1968 the Mexico Olympics may be most known for the iconic black power salute broadcasting the black struggle globally. Tommie Smith won the Gold medal for the 200m event with fellow AA John Carlos who achieved Bronze.
March on Washington ( Civil Rights March on Washington, D. C) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s infamous “I Have A Dream Speech” is probably one of the most well known speeches to this day. The speech was just a small part of a bigger picture that took place, The March on Washington. During this time, many individuals, white and black, came together to take a stand against segregation. This march was intended for the voices of the civil rights leaders to be heard. More than 200,000 black and white Americans shared a joyous day of speeches, songs, and prayers led by a celebrated array of clergymen, civil rights leaders, politicians, and entertainers.
On the 5th December 1955 Martin Luther King officially started his campaign for equal rights in America. He was a charismatic figure head and had great success with marches in Washington & Selma, however also had some failures in Chicago & Albany. King was made president of the newly-formed Montgomery Improvement Association after an incident concerning a woman called Rosa Parks an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person. King organised a bus boycott in Montgomery, black citizens would no longer travel with the buses but instead use other means of transport, the boycott lasted eight months until a case Browder v. Gayle took effect, and led to a United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional. Another major accomplishment of Martin Luther was the institution of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an American civil rights organisation in 1957.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader in some of the most important racial desegregation groups. Obviously he was the leader of the Civil Rights movement as well He was a leader for the group called Montgomery Improvement Association. He was appointed the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association which was created during the boycott and he became a prominent leader of the boycott - even driving some of the black community to work as the buses had been boycotted. He also was one of the leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was one of the leaders for the Selma Voting Rights Movement. These groups gained MLK a lot of popularity in the 1960’s.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader in some of the most important racial desegregation groups. Obviously he was the leader of the Civil Rights movement as well He was a leader for the group called Montgomery Improvement Association. He was appointed the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association which was created during the boycott and he became a prominent leader of the boycott - even driving some of the black community to work as the buses had been boycotted. He also was one of the leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was one of the leaders for the Selma Voting Rights Movement. These groups gained MLK a lot of popularity in the 1960’s.