Konstadinos douvalidis biography of martin luther king

If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are. President Lyndon Johnson shakes hands with Dr. King after the signing of the Civil Rights Act. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Thousands of people follow the casket as the body of Martin Luther King Jr.

He was later invited to meet with Dr. King, a defining moment in his career and the start to a great friendship. Southern Christian Leadership Conference leader C. Vivian teaching a class in non-violence for marchers in the basement of a black church in Selma. I trust him. King's biggest moments, such as the Selma to Montgomery March.

Here, civil rights marchers are seen crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the second attempt to march to Montgomery. He was the middle child of three siblings, with an older sister and a younger brother. Growing up in a loving and religious household, King's family instilled in him the values of equality, justice, and compassion. King was heavily influenced by his father, who was a prominent Baptist minister and civil rights activist.

He attended segregated public schools in Georgia and excelled academically, skipping grades 9 and 12 before enrolling in Morehouse College at the age of He graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology in During his time at Morehouse College, King was exposed to the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and became deeply committed to nonviolent resistance as a means of achieving social change.

Konstadinos douvalidis biography of martin luther king

King's education not only provided him with the necessary knowledge and skills to become a successful leader, but it also shaped his moral and ethical beliefs that would guide his actions in the fight for civil rights. His journey towards becoming a leader in the fight for civil rights began when he joined the Montgomery Improvement Association MIA and was chosen to lead the boycott against segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama.

King's leadership during the boycott brought national attention to the issue of segregation and inspired others to join the cause. His powerful speeches and nonviolent protests were instrumental in bringing about change and challenging the status quo. Following the success of the Montgomery bus boycott, King co-founded the SCLC, a civil rights organization that aimed to coordinate and support nonviolent protests throughout the South.

King was jailed, along with large numbers of his supporters. The event drew nationwide attention. However, King was personally criticized by Black and white clergy alike for konstadinos douvalidis biography of martin luther king risks and endangering the children who attended the demonstration. The demonstration was the brainchild of labor leader A.

On August 28,the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom drew an estimatedpeople in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. It remains one of the largest peaceful demonstrations in American history. This resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act ofauthorizing the federal government to enforce desegregation of public accommodations and outlawing discrimination in publicly owned facilities.

But the Selma march quickly turned violent as police with nightsticks and tear gas met the demonstrators as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. The attack was televised, broadcasting the horrifying images of marchers being bloodied and severely injured to a wide audience. Not to be deterred, activists attempted the Selma-to-Montgomery march again.

This time, King made sure he was part of it. Because a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order on another march, a different approach was taken. On March 9,a procession of 2, marchers, both Black and white, set out once again to cross the Pettus Bridge and confronted barricades and state troopers. Instead of forcing a confrontation, King led his followers to kneel in prayer, then they turned back.

Johnson pledged his support and ordered U. Army troops and the Alabama National Guard to protect the protestors. On March 21,approximately 2, people began a march from Selma to Montgomery. On March 25, the number of marchers, which had grown to an estimated 25, gathered in front of the state capitol where King delivered a televised speech.

Five months after the historic peaceful protest, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. Standing at the Lincoln Memorial, he emphasized his belief that someday all men could be brothers to the ,strong crowd. Dismayed by the ongoing obstacles to registering Black voters, King urged leaders from various backgrounds—Republican and Democrat, Black and white—to work together in the name of justice.

Give us the ballot, and we will no longer plead to the federal government for passage of an anti-lynching law Give us the ballot, and we will transform the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens. He then compared the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement to the ground crew at an airport who do the unheralded-yet-necessary work to keep planes running on schedule.

Offering a brief history lesson on the roots of segregation, King emphasized that there would be no stopping the effort to secure full voting rights, while suggesting a more expansive agenda to come with a call to march on poverty. How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Explaining why his conscience had forced him to speak up, King expressed concern for the poor American soldiers pressed into conflict thousands of miles from home, while pointedly faulting the U.

We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.

I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. Their daughter Bernice was born the next year. They were married on June 18,and had four children—two daughters and two sons—over the next decade. The couple welcomed Bernice King in In addition to raising the children while Martin travelled the country, Coretta opened their home to organizational meetings and served as an advisor and sounding board for her husband.

His lengthy absences became a way of life for their children, but Martin III remembered his father returning from the road to join the kids playing in the yard or bring them to the local YMCA for swimming. Leery of accumulating wealth as a high-profile figure, Martin Jr. However, he was known to splurge on good suits and fine dining, while contrasting his serious public image with a lively sense of humor among friends and family.

FBI Surveillance Due to his relationships with alleged Communists, King became a target of FBI surveillance and, from late until his death, a campaign to discredit the civil rights activist. Edgar Hooverwhich urged King to kill himself if he wanted to prevent news of his dalliances from going public. Inhistorian David Garrow wrote of explosive new allegations against King following his review of recently released FBI documents.

We go to any place we want to and sit anywhere we want to. The summer before his last year at Morehouse, inthe year-old King chose to enter the ministry. He would later credit the college's president, Baptist minister Benjamin Mayswith being his "spiritual mentor". Flowera professor of philosophy. Proctorwho both went on to become well-known preachers.

For a time, he was interested in Walter Rauschenbusch 's "social gospel". King planned to marry her, but friends, as well as King's father, [86] advised against it, saying that an interracial marriage would provoke animosity from both blacks and whites, potentially damaging his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully told a friend that he could not endure his mother's pain over the marriage and broke the relationship off six months later.