The words of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) were heard across America and around the world.

His famous speech, "I Have a Dream ..." ("I Have a Dream") symbolizes the vision of a fairer world for which King fought peacefully. Martin Luther King, Jr. is considered the greatest black leader in U.S. history. He was a major contributor to the end of racial segregation in his country. Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.: his life Martin Luther King, Jr., eldest son of Martin Luther King and Alberta Williams, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. His father and maternal grandfather were Baptist preachers.King attended public schools where there was racial segregation. It was a brilliant student: he graduated from high school at age 15 and finished college at 19. In 1951, he graduated in a Theological Seminary.

Four years later, he obtained his doctorate in theology from Boston University, where he met Coretta Scott, a graduate student of music who he married in 1953. The couple had four children.In 1954, King accepted a job as pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. This church was a powerful black institution and had a politically conscious audience that has manifested itself against discrimination.

Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.: History Contesto The situation of blacks in the southern United States was deplorable. Suffered constant racial discrimination and were forbidden to enter certain restaurants and public places. In the southern region of the United States, children of black parents could not attend the same schools and colleges that children and young whites. A black man was in danger of being murdered if you looked or talked to a white woman. Even a black man who had attended a college had no right to vote. The laws of racial segregation forced blacks passengers occupying the seats just at the bottom of the bus and grant their seats to white passengers in the event of the bus being crowded. They were often humiliated and beaten by white racists. On December 1, 1955, in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, one leader of the National Association for Advancement of Black People (NAACP), was ordered from a bus driver to give up her seat to a white passenger . For refusing to follow the order of the driver, Rosa Parks was arrested and taken to prison. This incident led to the black population to organize a boycott: one year, blacks Montgomery refused to use the city bus. Martin Luther King Jr. was elected president of the Association for the Advancement of Montgomery (MIA) to coordinate the boycott to the law of segregation on public transportation. That's how the fight started King for civil

rights in the United States. King based his fight on the ideals of peaceful resistance, coming to visit India in 1959 to study the forms of peaceful protest Gandhi. King continued to lead protests without using violence. Although always fight peacefully against racial discrimination, King was arrested, his family received death threats and his house was destroyed. In February 1956, two months after the incident Rosa Parks, a lawyer for MIA filed a lawsuit in federal court against the law of segregation of city buses in Montgomery. The court ruled that the law was unconstitutional, the government Montgomery appealed the decision, but without success. The first battle for civil rights had been won. In 1957, King helped found the Christian Leadership Conference in the South (SCLC), an organization of black churches and priests. King became the leader of the organization, which aimed to end segregation laws through peaceful demonstrations and boycotts. Many whites who lived in the northern region of the country supported, including financially, King's work. In 1960, King left the church in Montgomery and moved to Atlanta, where he worked as a pastor with his father. In the early 1960s, King led a series of protests in several U.S. ages. He organized demonstrations to protest against racial segregation in hotels, restaurants and other public places. During a demonstration, King was arrested and has been charged with causing public disorder. In jail, King wrote a famous letter in which he stated that people had a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws and fight.

After being released, King continued to lead demonstrations were aimed to put an end to racial segregation laws in the United States. In 1963, King and other black leaders organized the "March to Washington," which was a protest that involved the participation of more than 200,000 people who demonstrated in favor of civil rights for all citizens of the United States. This march, King made his most famous speech "I Have a Dream". The speech expressed his dream and the dream of all blacks and other minorities in the United States - to live in a just and egalitarian society. The march served as a final step toward the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlawed racial segregation in public places, businesses and schools.

In 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize Protests organized by King continued. In 1965, he led a protest march. One consequence of this march was the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which abolished the use of tests intended to prevent black people from voting. At that time, King also went to work to improve the economic situation of the black population of the United States.

Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.: his death On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, by a sniper named James Earl Ray was a fugitive Earl White admitted responsibility for the crime. King's assassin was sentenced to 99 years in prison.Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, but his words, his work and sacrifice have shaped the United States and influenced the world. King prevented the United States continued to be a country where people did not live in equality. Having been a major contributor to the end of racial segregation in the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. is a model of leadership and courage.