Martin Luther King, JR. - A Dreamer, A Leader

What springs to your mind when asked about the world’s most famous speech? “I have a dream.”
The speech which never fails to inspire; the speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
His Life and His Beliefs
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, on 15th January 1929, Martin was a middle child. At first, his name was Michael King, but he changed it to Martin later. King was a meritorious student and graduated college with a B.A. Degree in Sociology. Later, he obtained a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology. In 1953, he married Coretta Scott and settled in Montgomery, Alabama.
However, his academic achievements are not what catapulted him to the height of greatness. It was his philosophy and attitude that set him apart. Inspired by Jesus Christ and Mohandas Gandhi from India, King believed in non-violence. For a long time, he wanted to make a trip to India, which he finally managed in 1959. Gandhi inspired him immensely and in his trip, he met several of Gandhi’s followers.
He was a civil rights activist and every movement he participated in the spoke of his personality. He believed in ‘turning the other cheek’ instead of revenge. He understood that violence never convinces anyone. It just satisfies them for the time being, while both sides suffer damage.
Martin Luther King remained politically unattached to either party. According to him, both parties wronged the black people and he didn’t want to be a part of any country. He had a very vocal stand against the discrimination and the sufferings of the African-American people. In fact, he said that the wrongs done in the past to the black people could not be compensated by merely offering equality. He pointed out that these people are not financially strong like the whites and the government should invest to strengthen their economy. He showed that doing this will benefit the country in the long run as the overall education of the country would improve, crime rates and riots would decrease.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
It all started with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. An African-American girl named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man when the driver asked her to. She was later arrested, and immediately, King led a non-violent protest with African-Americans in the form of boycotting the buses. A lot of black people faced difficulties as they didn’t own cars and had to walk to work, but they followed his lead nonetheless. His own house was bombed in retaliation and he was arrested, but that didn’t stop King or his followers. The boycott went on for 382 days until the law imposing racial segregation on public transport was declared illegal.
King was then elected as the leader of the newly found Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957 to organize the civil rights movement. He led a peaceful civil disobedience (an idea taken from Gandhi) to stand against discrimination. This finally led to the introduction of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1963, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for leading numerous non-violent protests against racism. On April 4, King was assassinated on the balcony of the hotel he was staying in.
A Leader Leads by Example
During his short life, Martin Luther King Jr. showed what a true human being was supposed to be like. He believed that to protest a misdeed, you do not have to stoop down to the level of the misdeed yourself. He believed that it was everyone’s duty to protest visibly when something wrong occurred before them.
He never found answers by violence. He was inspired by Jesus and Gandhi’s teachings and always followed them. He was a minister in a church, so forgiveness has been one of his countless virtues. He didn’t wish to hurt anyone physically. Unlike many political leaders, he didn’t just instruct his followers and watch comfortably from the backseat. In every protest, he led from the front lines and always maintained his policy of being non-violent. He was confined to jail numerous times for his active role in all these protests, but he never gave up.
His life was short but meaningful. He had a dream and now that dream has come true.