Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. USA Hero

Today is the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a remarkable man whose heroic actions along with others helped propel the United States further along the path of social evolution. Some facts about his life and work:

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968), was one of the main leaders of the American civil rights movement. He became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955 - 1956) and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957), serving as its first president. His efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Here he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.
Read more at Wikipedia

*Did you know Dr. King skipped two grades in high school, which enabled him to enter college at age 15?

*Did you know Dr. King opposed the Vietnam war, and believed in the redistribution of wealth in the USA to correct racial and economic injustice?
*Did you know Dr. King was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's success with non-violent activism? What King had to say about Gandhi:

"Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as the law of gravitation."
Read more at Wikipedia

I have directly benefited from Dr. King's work and words, all Americans have. I am just now truly beginning to understand the huge sacrifice and humility of this man's life. He was a great man and a prime example of how one person can influence change in others. Why was king a hero leader to all Americans? Time said it best:

Three decades after King was gunned down on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tenn., he is still regarded mainly as the black leader of a movement for black equality. That assessment, while accurate, is far too restrictive. For all King did to free blacks from the yoke of segregation, whites may owe him the greatest debt, for liberating them from the burden of America's centuries-old hypocrisy about race. It is only because of King and the movement that he led that the U.S. can claim to be the leader of the "free world" without inviting smirks of disdain and disbelief. Had he and the blacks and whites who marched beside him failed, vast regions of the U.S. would have remained morally indistinguishable from South Africa under apartheid, with terrible consequences for America's standing among nations. How could America have convincingly inveighed against the Iron Curtain while an equally oppressive Cotton Curtain remained draped across the South?
Read more at Time's profile of Dr. King

I am spending this day with my family celebrating this man's beautiful life and spirit. Thank you, Dr. King, for your vision and bravery. Thank you for all that you did. You are missed but your work goes on.
Dr. King's I Have a Dream Speech
Dr. King Qoutes
Dr. King Photos

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