Martin Luther King Jr.: A Successful Person

Martin Luther King Jr - Successful Person Report

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential people of all time. A lot of what Martin Luther King Jr. did while he was alive has changed the world as we know it even today. He believed that there should be equality between people of all races and used a non violent approach to preach what he believed. He led millions on marches through major cities and spoke in a way that helped him have many followers.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January the 15th, 1929. He went to school at Moorhouse College where he graduated at 15 and moved on to Boston University. At Boston University Martin Luther King Jr. graduated with a PHD in systematic theology. King’s father,

Martin Luther had a sixth grade education when he decided to move out at sixteen and study to become a preacher. Due to this he was able to give his 4 children a middle class living, and a good education. However when King wanted to visit his white friends homes he was not allowed to as the parents didn’t accept him in their home. From there on, King’s parents raised him to always question any form of social injustice or segregation. I’m sure their influence played a huge part in the person King became.

Graduating from high school at the age of just 15 and then getting into a university and graduating with a sociology degree when he was only 19. At just 17 years old Martin Luther King wrote a letter stating that black people should be allowed the basic rights that any American Citizen has to the Atlanta Constitution, and it was then published. Being appointed pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1948 really set Martin Luther King on his way to changing the world as we know it today. By 1955 King had a doctorate in systematic theology given to him by Boston University, King graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary with a bachelor of divinity degree in 1948. With the amount of study he had completed and the different churches he had pastored at equipped him well to be the knowledgeable and amazing public speaker that he became.

Unfortunately Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, but not without achieving many many things.

It shows now in our current culture too, all races are now equal and that is the way it should be, much of this is thanks to the efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther did many great things, especially in the latter years of his career where all his efforts really began to show. On the 28th of March, 1963, King’s fourth child is born “Bernice Albertine”. On the 28th of August, 1963, King gave possibly his most famous speech “I have a dream”. The speech impacted millions across America and even led to a meeting with a meeting between himself and President John F. Kennedy. 3rd of January 1964, King is named “Man of the Year” by times magazine, a very deserved award for everything he had done to try and turn around the views on the african american population. 10 December, 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize where he then declared that all of the $54,000 that came with the award would go towards the ongoing civil rights struggle. Then of course comes the famous speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” given the day before King was assassinated. Martin Luther King being the powerful and impacting leader that he was meant that he had many followers, there were marches with 250,000 people following him in protest. So there were always professional relationships, it was just with many, many

people.

Martin Luther King Jr., was married to his wife Coretta Scott between 1953 and 1968, in this time they had 4 children; Yolanda Denise, Martin Luther III, Dexter Scott, Bernice Albertine. When looking at the highlights of King’s personal life it is hard to find much that was able to stay personal. He lived for trying to fight for the civil rights of all people in America. He did however win a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and the Time's Person of the Year 1964 being his two biggest awards, When the autopsy was done after King had been assassinated it was said his heart was that of a 60 year old, this was probably due to smoking. He was addicted to smoking, this was a habit he kept hidden from his family and the public to the best of his ability but was often pictured smoking by friends. An obvious low point in King’s life is how he was constantly cheating on his wife Coretta Scott. Most of this was found out after the FBI wire tapped King’s phone and apartment. There are transcripts still of the nights he spent with women who weren’t his wife. This was kept from the public as best as they could manage while he was still alive though, and only really came out after his death. It is said that he was with another woman the night before he was assassinated.

With so much of King’s life already being about helping and leading those in need he didn’t do as much work with charity as you would see celebrities do now days. This did not however mean that he didn’t do anything. He started up a “Poor people’s campaign” set up with King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King, due to being so busy wasn’t able to do all that much with the charity. He did however run the charity and have staff on board who would always help out in any way they could. After his death there were also a number of charities that were set up in his name, Thekingcenter.org has set up a charity to try and spread the message of non violence that Martin Luther King was so famous for.

Personally, I believe that Martin Luther King is one of the most influential and inspirational people of his time.

He believed that their should be no difference for blacks or whites, and that they should be equal and followed his passion heavily and did everything he could to turn that around. That on its own is an inspiration for all of us. With all the scrutiny and challenges he came across whether it was the FBI investigating him or being arrested for leading a march. Despite all this he never stopped trying to turn the law around, he is a big part of the reason we have equality today. He was able to give speeches that moved millions and force change throughout the United States and even the world. That is really admirable and I have all the respect in the world for what he accomplished. It is such a shame he was assassinated as there would have been so much more he could do, and see the results of all his hard work throughout the years. I have endless respect for Martin Luther King, he changed the world and views of millions of people. The way he chose to preach non violence on a subject that has often resulted in people often fighting is highly commendable. I can identify with Martin Luther King in the sense that I completely understand him wanting to change the laws and views that the American people had. He was almost fighting for his people which I really do respect and admire him

for.
Martin Luther King has now passed away, but he was highly successful in not only in terms of his career but what he accomplished for African American people. He accomplished so much even after he passed away. King’s memory continues to live on even today, proving how great he was when he was alive. It would’ve been so great to see, and be it one of his speeches. Being able to witness the incredible influence he had on so many people would have been great to see. There is absolutely no doubt that Martin Luther King Jr. was an amazing man who influenced his country greatly.