Martin Luther King Jr.: Biografi og borgerrettighedsbevægelsen

Martin Luther King Junior was born in Atlanta on the 15th January 1929. He was named Michael King. His dad was Michael King Senior. His Mother's name was Alberta Williams. Michael King Senior married Alberta in 1926 and Michael King Junior became their first son. At the age of 6 Michael King Senior changed his and Michael King Junior's name to Martin Luther King Senior and Michael Luther King Junior in respect to Martin Luther (Germany). Just as Martin Luther (Germany), Martin Luther King Senior and Junior worked for changes and elimination of older systems. But where it to Martin Luther was about reforms in the church the Kings fought for changes in the community. In 1953 Martine Luther King Junior became a priest in a Baptist Church in Montgomery, the capital of Georgia's neigh boring state Alabama. Two years later a black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give her seat in a bus in Montgomery to a white man. She was arrested and that became the start to one of the first big campaigns in the American Civil Rights Movement: The bus boycott in Montgomery. The Day after Rosa Parks arrest King Junior led a meeting in the Church, where it was decided to invite all the black people in the city to boycott all public buses in Montgomery and drive, walk or stay home instead. King Junior wanted to press the city council to repeal the discriminatory rules that gave the white people first priority to the seats in the buses. The boycott was only going to be for a day but the boycott lasted for 385 days which is more than a year. Many of the older black priests were afraid for the city's white leaders and wouldn't dare to stand in the front of the boycott. That's why King Junior was chosen as the Civil Right Movement leader. The older priests fear should show to be justified. Under the boycott Martin Luther King Junior's house was exposed to firebombs and King Junior himself was arrested. Despite all this adversity he didn't gave up because the injustice was too big. He was in the believe that his task issued by god was to fight for freedom and justice. In the end of the boycott the federal court stated Alabama's laws about segregation in buses invalid. Now the Civil Right Movement had won one of their biggest victories, and King Junior had been a country known leader in the Civil Right Movement! In the years after the bus boycott King Junior spent a lot of his time to travel around the country to participate in demonstrations for civil rights. In the year 1957 he travel for over one million kilometres and spoke at 208 demonstrations. He even started to write his thoughts about civil rights, freedom and justice into books, which was sold in dozens all over the country. King Junior also vent on a long trip to India to meet his idol and freedom fighter Mohandas Gandhi. Mohandas Gandhi led the Indian people to freedom from the British colonial and just like him King Junior wanted to lead the black people in USA to freedom and equivalence. Both King Junior and Mohandas Gandhi were using not violence funds. When King Junior returned to USA he became a priest with his father in Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Despite all his years as civil rights fighter he never gave up his call as a priest. To him the christian message about gods freedom and justice to people is nothing else than Civil Right Movement fight for freedom and justice. The 28th august 1963 King Junior was one of the people who arrange the big march at Washington for jobs and freedom. It is one of the biggest demonstrations in US history with about 250.000 people participated. The most of the people was black but also a part of the white people participated because in the sixties large parts of the American community got their eyes up for the injustice in the repression of the black people who especially was in the southern stats. The march will always be remembered for the speech Martin Luther King Junior held. A speech that since then has been known as the "I have a dream" speech. In this speech King Junior tells about his dream. A USA where everybody regardless of race should be even and free, just like the nations fathers for many, many years had decided when they signed the declaration of independence. In his speech was using many references to the bible. In this speech he is saying that the black people's fight for freedom is the same as the Israelites deliverance from slavery in the Egypt. Actually there wasn't a lot of difference in his speeches when he spoke in his church or when he spoke as a politician. As King Junior increased his recognition in USA and international he got Nobel peace prize in 1964 as the youngest ever. But still it wasn't everyone who recognized him and his follower’s goal for equal right regardless of race. Under a march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 hundred of peaceful demonstrator were attacked by police with clubs and tear gas. Luckily King Junior wasn't with on this day, but it succeed him to organise a new march and another one, until it succeed to complete a peaceful 87 kilometres march from Selma to Montgomery. It wasn't only in the southern states that the Civil Rights Movement met big resistance. King Junior was choked over the violent resistance in Chicago when he organized a campaign in 1966. In King Junior last speech ever, he told that he wasn't afraid from getting killed. The next day April the 4th 1968 Martin Luther King Junior was shot in the neck when he was standing on his hotel balcony in Memphis.