A shout rings out
in the Memphis sky
Free at last
they took your life
They could not take your pride..."
Martin Luther King, Jr. foi um dos mais importantes líderes do Movimento pelos direitos civis contra a segregação racial e discriminação contra os Afro-americanos. Nesse post vamos contar um pouco sobre seu legado.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an integral part of the Civil Rights Movement, a social movement in the United States that worked to end racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans. King’s contributions to this movement continue to be felt today and inspire others to combat inequality through nonviolence.
As the leader of the nonviolent Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr. traversed the country in his quest for freedom. His involvement in the movement began during the bus boycotts of 1955 and was ended by an assassin's bullet in 1968.
As the unquestioned leader of the peaceful Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was at the same time one of the most beloved and one of the most hated men of his time. From his involvement in the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 until his untimely death in 1968, King's message of change through peaceful means added to the movement's numbers and gave it its moral strength. The legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. is embodied in these two simple words: equality and nonviolence.
King was raised in an activist family. His father was deeply influenced by Marcus Garvey’s Back to Africa Movement in the 1920s. His mother was the daughter of one of Atlanta's most influential African American ministers. As a student, King excelled. He easily moved through grade levels and entered Morehouse College, his father's alma mater, at the age of fifteen. Next, he attended Crozer Theological Seminary, where he received a Bachelor of Divinity degree. While he was pursuing his doctorate at Boston University, he met and married Coretta Scott. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1955, King accepted an appointment to the Dexter Street Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
After his organization of the bus boycott, King formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which dedicated itself to the advancement of rights for African Americans. In April 1963, King organized a protest in Birmingham, Alabama, a city King called "the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States." Since the end of World War II, there had been 60 unsolved bombings of African American churches and homes.
Boycotts, sit-ins and marches were conducted. When Bull Connor, head of the Birmingham police department, used fire hoses and dogs on the demonstrators, millions saw the images on television. King was arrested. But support came from around the nation and the world for King and his family. Later in 1963, he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to thousands in Washington, D.C.
After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, King turned his efforts to registering African American voters in the South. In 1965, he led a march in Selma, Alabama, to increase the percentage of African American voters in Alabama. Again, King was arrested. Again, the marchers faced attacks by the police. Tear gas, cattle prods, and billy clubs fell on the peaceful demonstrators. Public opinion weighed predominantly on the side of King and the protesters. Finally, President Johnson ordered the National Guard to protect the demonstrators from attack, and King was able to complete the long march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. The action in Selma led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Early in the evening of April 4, 1968, King was shot by James Earl Ray. Spontaneous violence spread through urban areas as mourners unleashed their rage at the loss of their leader. Rioting burst forth in many American cities.
But the world never forgot his contributions. Time magazine had named him "Man of the Year" in 1963. In 1964, he won the Nobel Peace Prize and was described as "the first person in the Western world to have shown us that a struggle can be waged without violence." In 1977, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award a civilian American can earn. In the 1980s, his birthday became a national holiday, creating an annual opportunity for Americans to reflect on the two values he dedicated his life to advancing: equality and nonviolence.
Questions
1 - How did the public feel towards Martin Luther King?
a) He was hated because he was causing big changes in America.
b) He was loved by everyone because he made life better for all Americans.
c) He was both loved and hated for his new approach to race relations.
d) Many people didin't care about the work he did
2 - What did Martin Luther King, Jr. believe made a successful protest?
a) Nonviolent actions in places where the police supported their right to protest.
b) Nonviolent demostrations against things he thought were unfair
c) Whatever it took to create change
d) By working with Bull Connor to organize demonstrations.
3 - How were protesters treated by law enfocement in Selma?
a) They were supported for their beliefs of freedom and equality
b) They were supported by beliefes of freedom and equality
c) They were protected as long as they remained peaceful
d) They were peacefully turned away by President Johnson's National Guard.
4 - How did the world respond to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death?
a) They celebrated his values of equality and nonviolence and he received several awards.
b) His enemes realzed they could gain power without his opposition.
c) They reverted to violent protests out of anger over is death.
d) The completely accepted his values of equality and nonviolence and ceased fighting.
5 - Before getting inolved in the civil rights movemet, what was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s job?
a) Lawyer
b) Minister
c) Medical doctor
d) Professor
e) Actor
6 - What was the first major civil rights action that Martin Luther King, Jr. led?
a) Little Rock Nine
b) Marcho on Washington
c) Birmingham Campaign
d) Montgomery Bus Boycott
e) Bloody Sunday
7 - What legislation was passed in 1964 as a result of the March on Washington?
a) Thirteenth Amendment
b) Disabilities Act
c) Civil Rights Act
d) Social Security Act
e) Voter's Right Act
8 - What name has been given to the speech Martin Luther King, Jr. gave at the March on Washington?
a) One Day
b) Washington Address
c) We March
d) We the People
e) I Have a Dream
9 - How did Martin Luther King, Jr. die?
a) He died in a car bomb
b) He suffered a heart attack while giving a speeach
c) He died from cancer
d) He was shot by an assassin
e) He died from old age in his home in Atlanta
Respostas:
1- b), 2- a), 3- a), 4- b), 5- b), 6- d), 7- c), 8- e), 9- d)
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