Martin Luther King Jr.

Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed.

• Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin.

• Was a social activist/social leader.• Played a key role in the American civil rights

movement. • Inspired by advocates of nonviolence such as

Mahatma Gandhi

Education and Achievements • A gifted student, King attended segregated public schools.• Was a bright student and at the age of 15 was admitted

to Morehouse College, the alma mater of both his father and maternal grandfather, where he studied medicine and law.

• After graduating in 1948, MLK entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his predominantly white senior class.

Achievements Contd.• Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group

committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolence.

• Was chosen president of the group at a very young age, 22.• In his role as SCLC president, MLK Jr. traveled across the

country and around the world, giving lectures on nonviolent protest and civil rights as well as meeting with religious figures, activists and political leaders.

• Won a Grammy and was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal and a Medal of Freedom

The most important March • King Marches for Freedom. Was the headline in the New

York Times on 29th Aug 1963. • Martin Luther King Jr. worked with a number of civil rights

and religious groups to organize the March on Washington.• Jobs and Freedom was the only objective.• It was a peaceful political rally designed to shed light on

the injustices African Americans continued to face across the country.

• Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants

What made MLK a leader

• Dr. King was a visionary.• Brilliant communication skills.• Had a clear goal and worked towards it even when

he was threatened countless number of time and was arrested more than 30 times.

• Encouraged “creative tension” .• Involved everyone.• Was consistant.• Inspired millions.

• Cared for his followers well being.• Knew how to utilize his strengths and gifts.• Served as a role model.• Was passionate and loved what he did.• Had a positive attitude. • Always learned from his failures and mistakes.• Motivated others.

What leaders can learn from him?

• Know your cause

• Craft a message

• Live your beliefs

• Know the “WHY”

The “I Have A Dream” speech

• The march culminated in MLK’s most famous address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, a spirited call for peace and equality that many consider a masterpiece of rhetoric.

• Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial–a monument to the president who a century earlier had brought down the institution of slavery in the United States.

• He shared his vision of a future in which “this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'”

• The speech and march cemented King’s reputation at home and abroad.

• After that year he was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine.

• In 1964 became the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a record which was recently broken by Malala Yousafzai.

• Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream

The death of a Hero• On the evening of April 4, 1968, King was fatally shot while

standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, where he had traveled to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

• President Johnson, the 36th president of US, declared a national day of mourning.

• James Earl Ray (1928-1998), an escaped convict and known racist, pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

• After years of campaigning by activists, members of Congress and Coretta Scott King,(MLK’s wife) among others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) signed a bill creating a U.S. federal holiday in honor of King.

• Observed on the third Monday of January, it was first celebrated in 1986.