Honoring Martin Luther King

People have always struggled for their rights and rightful position in their respective societies. They have also struggled with the obstacles that were imposed on them. Perhaps the most notable example of this omnipresent struggle are the black people, who once used to dedicate their lives to fighting for their rights.

This struggle was most potent in the time of Martin Luther King, Jr. Every January, America celebrates a national holiday declared in honor of the so-called "Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr." King has had the honor accorded to no other American; not Washington, not Jefferson, not Lincoln. Here comes the story of one great man who fought for the rights of his people; one of the greatest American Civil Rights leaders of the 1960s.

Born in 1929, King was the son of a Black preacher, who was known at the time as "Daddy King". In 1935, "Daddy King" had an inspiration to name himself after the Protestant reformer Martin Luther. He declared to his congregation that they were to begin referring to him as "Martin Luther King", and to his son as "Martin Luther King, Jr."

King was always a strong civil rights activist. In December of 1955, he was ready to accept the leadership of the first great, nonviolent demonstration of the African-American population in the United States. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutionally the laws requiring segregation on buses, King urged the Negroes not to abide by them. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, and he was a subject to personal abuse. At the same time, however, he emerged as a leader of the first rank.

King was later elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity, and its operational techniques he took from Gandhi. King traveled over seven million miles and spoke over twenty hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice and protest, and wherever action was required. Meanwhile, he wrote five books and published numerous articles. Most importantly, he caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. He planned drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters and directed the peaceful march on Washington, DC. After speaking to over 200,000 people, to whom he delivered his address "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy.

In 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was giving a speech called "I’ve Been To The Mountain Top" in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was shot by an escaped convict named James Earl Ray. He died fighting for the rights of his people.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a remarkable person, a person who inevitably makes one think of the concept of race and the notion of racial discrimination. I thus strongly believe that we should all be aware of the situation in which the Afro-Americans were in. Why does everyone revere King as a national hero? Because he truly, passionately fought for his race and his people. He was arrested many times for spreading his ideas, yet he never gave up. He embodies the strength and persistence that is needed to fulfill a dream, and King certainly fulfilled his.