Martin Luther King, Jr. (Essay Sample)

Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Paper Outline
The roman numerals refer to paragraphs while the bullets refer to the points to be covered.
* Introduction
* Martin Luther King's date/place of birth
* King's life in his religious home
* How Martin Luther King started fighting out Segregation
* Early stages in the fight for equality
* Qualities of leadership portrayed by Martin Luther King
* Kings first Organizations in his civil rights movement
* Goals set by Martin Luther King
* Speeches, letters and demonstrations led by Martin Luther King
* How he used intelligence in his speeches/letters
* Obstacles faced by King in his demonstrations
* Nobel Prize
* Martin Luther King as a Legend
* Why Martin Luther King deserves to be referred to as a legend
* King's impact in America
* How his words touched many Americans
* King's death
* Conclusion
* Brief summary of the points covered in the essay.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King was born in the year 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Since his father was a pastor, Martin Luther King was brought up in a religious home, and he followed his father's footsteps. He later became a minister of a Baptist church located in Montgomery, Alabama. Racism prevailed in this city of Montgomery, and as a result, Martin Luther King felt that something ought to be done to eradicate racism in this city. After he was elected as the new president of the MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association), he started various initiatives geared at countering racism. In 1955, Martin organized a boycott against bus transportation after Rosa Park was arrested for not giving up her seat for a white passenger. Actually, this was a good start for great leadership (Schraff 45). This paper aims at discussing Martin Luther King's great leadership, his legacy, and the influences Civil Rights Movement had.
Martin Luther King exemplified a leader who is not afraid of anything, and who is ready to use all means in ensuring that rights and privileges of citizens are not violated. He formed several organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership that helped him to pursue various civil rights activities. Expansion of this organization to national level helped Martin to set a firm foundation for fighting for the rights of his people. He embraced one goal that involved elimination of segregation of black people. He swore not to rest until all his people received equal treatment as the rest of the citizens. By setting such a goal, it shows Martin was a truly dedicated leader, and it depicts excellent qualities of a responsible leader (Gosman 65).
In all his speeches, letters, and demonstrations, Martin adopted non-violence acts. Instead of using bloodshed to communicate his demands, he used intelligence to have his demands heard. Even to-date, many leaders refer to Martin's letters and speeches for more knowledge of what good leadership entails. For instance, in his letter 'I have a Dream', he was able to communicate deeply to people's hearts changing the way they perceived black people. King's determination can be noted through the various obstacles he endured in his life. He was thrown to jail and branded a nickname 'Niger', but he did not despair. Through this, he was able to drive fear out of blacks, paving way for realization of equality. Because of his great work, he won Nobel Peace prize at the age of 35 years. The most astonishing thing is that he decided to give over the prize money to finance various civil rights movements. This touched many people for such generosity is rare among leaders (Schraff 113).
It is worth referring King as a legend because of the exemplary leadership skills, which he used to set his people free. Through his great speeches, going to jail and the various demonstrations, Martin Luther King can be termed as one of the world's greatest leaders. He showed integrity by being responsible for his actions by facing the law after being accused of various demonstrations. After American citizens recognized that King was genuine, and that his actions were geared at ensuring a better America, they were touched, and accepted him as a dedicated leader. Especially his words that all m...