Martin Luther King, Jr.

Citations:

January, Brendan. Martin Luther King, Jr.: minister and civil rights leader activist. Chicago, Ill.: Ferguson Pub., 2000. Print.

January, Brendan. "growing up in segregation." Martin Luther King, Jr.: minister and civil rights leader activist. Chicago, Ill.: Ferguson Pub., 2000. 9. Print.

January, Brendan. "growing up in segregation." Martin Luther King, Jr.: minister and civil rights leader activist. Chicago, Ill.: Ferguson Pub., 2000. 10. Print.

Summary:

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in the city of Atlanta on January 15, 1929. His father was the assistant pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He had two siblings, an older sister, and a younger brother. Martin went to segregate public schools until he got to high school where he attended Booker T. Washington High School. He stayed there until he was qualified to enter a more house college. He went to the Atlanta University and got his degree in sociology in 1948. In 1948 he joined the Crozer Theological Seminary. He was one of six black participants among 60 white ones. It is here he gained interest in Gandhi's nonviolent way to gain India’s independence. This also got him into Boston University, which he chose over Yale University. In Boston, he was awarded a P.H.D. in the year 1955.  Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful rebellion against the American government trying to get the African Americans living in United States Full U.S. citizenship rights. He gave eloquent speeches expressing the African Americans feelings about how they were being persecuted. He persuaded the majority to take him as their leader. With his movement he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. The year after his most famous speech titled “I Have a Dream”. Martin died was assassinated on April 4, 1968. He left a huge impact on the world that changed our lives forever. Martin showed perseverance because he kept on trying to gain equal rights as the whites. Martin organized boycotts, sit-ins, and non-violent protests to keep fighting for the black peoples rights even though he got arrested over and over again. King had an image that the world should be a place where race didn’t matter he followed his dream. He wanted everyone no matter what color their skin was, no matter where they came from, no matter what their background was to get treated equally. He wanted all of these people to share equal rights, to be seen in the same way. He wanted to send an image that conflicts could be solved with peace. All he ever tried to do was make the world a better place. He had to overcome challenges like the Ku Klux Klan, by simply ignoring their arrogance and violence. He also had to overcome challenges like having to deal with bad businessmen, and politicians but he co-oped with the situation because he was determined to be non violent.

Historical Setting:

As it is said on the first page of the book “ Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1963.” King Jr. was born in a time of segregation, which is called the Civil Rights Era. The Civil Rights Era is when there was racial segregation in the United States. The whites would think of themselves as the superior race and they would think of the blacks as the inferior race. The whites would make all the laws while the blacks would have to follow them. Back then there were segregated sections where whites could sit and where the blacks would sit. The whites always got the better treatment. They had cleaner bathrooms, better transportation, and an easier escape from the law. The blacks had a harsher treatment, which leads me to how King was affected by the time period.

Affection:

Martin Luther King Jr. was a good debater from a young age. His time period affected him because he was a black. He learned about segregation at the age of 6 when he was taught about segregation.  He was very young when he learned segregation did exist. On page 10 of the book its says that after the incident with his white playmate he was changed. It made him want to stand up for his rights. Years later Martin read a book about Mahatma Gandhi who led a non-violent rebellion against the British rule in India. This inspired him to lead non-violent rebellions instead of starting a racial war. 

Acquired Vocabulary:

Sit Ins: form of protest in which demonstrators occupy a place, refusing to leave until their demands are met.  Page 24

Boycott: withdraw from commercial or social relations with (a country, organization, or person) as a punishment or protest. Page 22

Rebellion: Revolt. Page 48

Segregation: the action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things or being set apart. Page 1

Baptist:  a member of a Protestant Christian denomination advocating baptism only of adult believers by total immersion. Baptists form one of the largest Protestant bodies and are found throughout the world and esp. in the US. Page 1

Emancipate: set free. Page 65

Reflection:

All in all I enjoyed reading this book. In my opinion it was a good read because it taught me lesson about how acquire things in life.  I think that the so what of this book was to inform the reader about segregation and how the conflict was solved using non-violent tactics. This book maters because it holds history, and events that changed the world we know today. If I were to give this book a rating it would be a 10/10 because it was a great read. I would recommend this book to people who like a good quick read, and there is a little bit of everything. I think that MLKJ is important to talk about because he changed the world we live in. He made a huge impact on the world and painted a non-violent image in the black races mind. If I was him I do not know how I could have kept calm because if I had to deal with everything he had to go through, boy oh boy.