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Martin Luther King Jr Influence

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Martin Luther King Jr. was a very influential man in the life of many people. He transformed the lives of blacks and whites as a whole and should be viewed by people as a hero. He stood up for what he believed in, and helped change the America into how we know it today. Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong man and never let anything stand in his way of accomplishing the goal he set out to do, which was to get blacks their freedom/equal rights. Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up and went to school in Atlanta, he was a very smart student and enrolled at Morehead College at the age of 15. He earned his sociology degree from Morehead College and then went to attend the liberal Crozer Theological Seminary …show more content…

had grown tired of marches, getting arrested, and continually being scared for his life. By the year 1968, some of the demonstrations and his supporters were beginning to wear on him (The King Center). Martin Luther King Jr. was still disappointed with the way civil rights in America were being handled. He planned on setting up another march through Washington to spark up his movement again. In spring of the year 1968, a labor strike that was taking place in Memphis, Tennessee got Martin Luther King Jr.’s attention, so he went there to check it out. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech to his supporters, one important quote that was taken from the speech said, "I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land" (Martin Luther King Jr. Biography). On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was staying at the Lorraine Motel. He stepped out on his balcony and was shot by a sniper, the man’s name was James Earl Ray, and he was a former convict (The American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation). James Earl Ray was on the run for two months and was finally caught and he was sentenced to ninety-nine years and prison. The death of martin Luther King Jr. made his follower go insane, it made riots occur in more than one-hundred cities across the nation (The American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation). The death of Martin Luther King Jr. was a big blow to the civil rights movement. The work that he put in in his life helped blacks achieve and earn their right as equals in the

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