By Saqib Saleem Qureshi ( NewYork)
Hero for All: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Minister and social activist Martin Luther King, Jr., was the preeminent leader of the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. His guidance was fundamental to the movement’s success in ending the legal segregation of Black Americans in the South and other parts of the United States. He rose to national prominence as a leader of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955–56 and later as the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which pursued civil rights through nonviolent tactics, such as the Selma March (1965) and the massive March on Washington (1963), at the culmination of which, King, an immensely gifted orator, delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and is commemorated by the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C. Learn more about Dr. King’s extraordinary accomplishments through our timeline of his life.
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Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., never backed down in his stand against racism. Learn more about the life of this courageous hero who inspired millions of people to right a historical wrong.
King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, lead demonstrators on the fourth day of a historic five-day march in 1965. Starting in Selma, Alabama, where local African Americans had been campaigning for the right to vote, King led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators 54 miles to the state capitol of Montgomery.
King was arrested several times during his lifetime. In 1960, he joined Black college students in a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter. Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy interceded to have King released from jail, an action that is credited with helping Kennedy win the presidency.
King inspires a large crowd with one of his many speeches. Raised in a family of preachers, he's considered one of the greatest speakers in U.S. history
King waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. during the March on Washington. There, he delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech, which boosted public support for civil rights.
President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes King's hand at the signing of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed racial segregation in publicly owned facilities.
King his wife, Coretta Scott King, sit with three of their four children in their Atlanta, Georgia, home in 1963. His wife shared the same commitment to ending the racist system they had both grown up under.
A crowd of mourners follows the casket of King through the streets of Atlanta, Georgia, after his assassination in April 4, 1968. King was shot by James Earl Ray on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. Americans honor the civil rights activist on the third Monday of January each year, Martin Luther King Day.