Martin Luther King.

Born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia in the US, Martin Luther King was a pastor, leader of the civil rights movement and humanitarian. Facing racism at a young age, Martin saw his father stand up to multiple instances, mostly those to do with segregation in America. King's life wasn't an easy one at a young age and through his teenage years, Martin came to be depressed and resented the white race due to the harsh treatment he and his kin had received due to it. When his grandmother died, Martin came to blame himself and at 12 attempted to commit a suicide he obviously survived.

Though he one day became a pastor and a man of the faith and cloth, Martin found there to be many problems with the bible, including the bodily resurrection of Christ. However he came to also see the faux 'truths' of the bible and due to the peaceful message some see to be able to delude themselves with, Martin continued to worship. At high school, Martin was discovered to be a great public speaker and after having gone to an oratorical contest in which he won, Martin Luther found himself 'the angriest he had ever been in his life'. The bus driver told him and his teacher that negro passengers had to stand in order to let their fairer counterparts take a seat. With the racial discrimination aside, Martin Luther was a prestigious student and when to college after skipping two grades and without a formal high school graduation.

Martin went off to graduate Morehouse with a degree in sociology and then went on to join the seminary, it was shortly after he also married Coretta Scott and fathered four children. It might be interesting to note that though Martin believed in the rights of black people, he desired for his wife to stay at home and look after the children, thus making her involvement in civil rights nil.

On December 1st 1955, Rosa Parks refused her seat on the bus in compliance with the Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation. This started off the Montgomery Bus Boycott, though he was arrested during it, the boycott lasted for 385 days and lead to not only segregation on buses being ended but also to King becoming a national figure and spokesperson. It is also worth pointing out that Rosa Parks was not the first case considered to spark this revolution and that it had been planned for sometime, the first case being  Claudette Colvin, a pregnant and single young woman who the board felt that such a woman would hinder rather than help their cause.

In 1957, black leaders of the faith banded together in order to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in order to promote not only moral but also non-violet protest. King was the leader of the church in till his assassination. Moving with his christian roots, King released such books as 'The measure of Man' which contained parts of his sermons and complete transcripts.

Perhaps Martin Luther's most well known event though, would have to be The March on Washington, 1963. I have a dream. Words that still stand in the minds of many to this very day, Martin Luther King addressed the masses and won his support for jobs and freedom. Though 250,000 people attended the speech and march, it is believed only 80% where black and that such a showing marks the progress already made by the point Martin called out for a full stop to racism.

So with a brief summary of Martin Luther's work, I've come to see some flaws but also some well made points in his life. Twice I have made points in which Martin Luther outright showed not the same respect for men he had to women, though I would say as with the times it was as if they wasn't already making a revolutionary change. With that, I have a hard time respecting the man, though his work isn't without credit. I'd also like to think that the powerful words and impeccable speech craft of Martin Luther also stopped men like Malcolm X becoming the mainstream leaders, for if the men had been reversed what would have happened? Civil war? Genocide? The racist south wouldn't have had many problems with fighting with their former slaves and maybe even re-imprisoning them. The shift to non-violent protests and the power of his words show how much Martin Luther King helped the civil rights movement, though another man may have risen in his place, would they have been such a silver tongue? The qualities of a great leader seeded in the man's veins, flourished at an early age and bloomed in his prime. And so in drawing to a close, I do indeed have to say that Martin Luther was a great significance to the civil rights movement in all he did.