Key question: How important was Martin Luther King to the Civil Rights Movement?

Lesson aims: To understand about MLKs background.

To understand his role in the civil rights movement. To evaluate the importance of his role in the civil rights movement.

Background
Martin Luther King Junior was born in Atlanta 15 Jan 1929. His grandfather had been pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church and founder of Atlanta's NAACP , his father was also a Baptist preacher.

Growing up in the south he soon came to realise the differences between white and black Americans.
His best friend as a child was a white boy. As soon as they were old enough to go to school they were not allowed to play with each other ever again.

Education
After going to college in Atlanta, King study at Pennsylvania and Boston University, where he explored Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent strategy for social change. King married Coretta Scott in 1953, and the following year he accepted the pastorate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery.

Bus Boycott
On 5 December 1955, after civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to comply with Montgomerys segregation policy on buses, black residents launched a bus boycott and elected King president of the newly-formed Montgomery Improvement Association. The boycott continued throughout 1956 and King gained national prominence for his role in the campaign. In December 1956 Alabamas buses were desegregated. Seeking to build upon the success in Montgomery, King and other southern black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957.

India and Gandhi

In 1959, King toured India and further developed his understanding of Gandian non-violent strategies. Why do you think Martin Luther King was attracted to this method of protest?

SNCC and the Freedom Rides

In 1960, black college students initiated a wave of sit-in protests that led to the formation of the Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

King supported the student movement and expressed an interest in creating a youth arm of the SCLC.
The 1961 Freedom Rides created tension between King and younger activists, as he faced criticism for his decision not to take part in the rides.

Birmingham, 1963
In the spring of 1963, King and the SCLC led a mass demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama, where local white police officials were known for their violent opposition to interrogation. Clashes between unarmed black demonstrators and police armed with dogs and fire hoses generated newspaper headlines throughout the world. President Kennedy responded to the Birmingham protests by submitting broad civil rights legislation to Congress.

The March on Washington, 1963

August 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place. 250,000 gathered in Washington D.C. 50,000 protesters were white. It was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that King delivered his famous I have a dream speech.

Fame
Kings fame continued to grow as he became Time magazines Man of the Year in 1963. He was the youngest man to be given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Problems and Death

King was facing increased resistance from political leaders. FBI director J.Edgar Hoover tried to undermine Kings leadership. In late 1967, King started a Poor Peoples Campaign designed to fight economic problems that had not been dealt with by earlier civil rights reform. In 1968, while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis he delivered, what was to be his final address. The next day, 4 April 1968, he was shot dead while standing on the balcony of his Motel in Memphis by James Earl Ray. Ray was later arrested in London, when tried he was found guilty and sentenced to 99 years in jail.

Civil Rights Legislation

1964 Racial discrimination was banned in employment. Black pupils were given equal rights to enter all public places and any bodies receiving government money, including schools. An Equal Employment Opportunities Commission was set up to investigate complaints of discrimination.

1965 The Voting Rights Act stopped racial discrimination over the right to vote.
1967 The Supreme Court declared that state laws forbidding interracial marriages were unconstitutional. 1968 The Fair Housing Act made racial discrimination illegal in the property market.