Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.was an inspirational speaker and an icon in American history. Also known as M.L.K., we celebrate him because he achieved equal rights for black Americans.M.L.K. has accomplished civil rights, the Montgomery bus boycott, and the Great March on Washington.

M.L.K partly accomplished civil rights by giving many speeches, explaining many reasons why segregation is terrible for black Americans and Americans in general. M.L.K pushed for civil rights ever since he started giving speeches in 1944. Growing up, M.L.K had a friend who was white and they played together a lot. One day, the white kids’ parents didn’t want their children to play with black children. That day, M.L.K. was inspired to make a difference. Those things are what made him push for civil rights and to achieve civil rights for all Americans.

M.L.K. had heard about the Montgomery bus incident in 1955 when a black woman named Rosa Parks would not give up her seat to a white man and was arrested because she could not sit there on a public bus. She was fined $14 and spent a couple of hours in jail. After everyone heard about this, M.L.K. and some others led a boycott, where every black person would not ride the bus until this was fixed. After 13 months of walking miles to work and school, the U.S supreme court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. This was a great victory but segregation was still affecting people from other factors.

The Great March on Washington occurred on August 28th, 1963. This was where more than a quarter million people marched to Washington for jobs and freedom. That was also where M.L.K gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Then in 1964, segregation ended. Later that year, he won a Nobel Peace Prize. He won this by leading a nonviolent campaign against racism. The Great March on Washington had both black and white Americans wanting jobs for all Americans.

Cooper Paras is a 7th grade student that was interviewed for this article. The first question asked was: Why do you think M.L.K isso important? Cooper said, “M.L.K is so important because, with him and his speeches along with his movements, he is the reason why black and white people are treated more equally. Without him, white people would still be treated better.” For the second question, Cooper said, “M.L.K. has accomplished civil rights for black people. He also wanted people to stay true and not return to segregation.” The other interview was with Logan Hicks, also, a 7th grader. He said, “M.L.K was important because he provoked the civil rights movement. He also wanted to end segregation for a long time in his life.” For the second question asked, he said, “M.L.K has changed the U.S. by ending racism and was a great leader for the U.S. He also changed the way people think of each other and now we think racism is very bad because of him. ”

M.L.K. has done many things in his lifetime, however, he is most famous for ending segregation. His “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the most famous speeches in American history. These are some things he achieved. He earned a Nobel Peace Prize for all these things. Even after his death, he was awarded many awards, is recognized for what he did, and will be remembered for all he has done for American history.