The Man who Believed in Peace (Essay Sample)

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The man who believed in Peace
“Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?” This is statement which may make a people assess their lives, as the late Martin Luther King Jr wondered during his days as an activist for equality and abolishment of unfairness based on race. This was while he was addressing an audience in Montgomery, Alabama in 1957.
That statement is probably one of the many reasons which inspired Luther King Jr. as he fought unfairness, such as racial segregation leading a revolution of its kind in the United States America. He was still young and had more than a decade of advocacy before he was assassinated in April 4th 1963, a death marred with conspiracies and bitterness. However it would be crime to view Luther King Jr’s Death from this perspective, his death was monumental as led to a strong wave of change and amendment of laws which ushered way for the end of racial segregation.
Martin Luther King Jr was born on 15th January 1928 to Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King as Michael King Luther Jr. changing his first name later on. Luther Jr. was a Baptist preacher Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta – a church of which the family had served as preachers in - acting as the co-pastor with his father from 1960 till his death in 1968. He went to school in segregated public schools in Georgia and went on to Morehouse College, a Negro college, attaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1948.
Studying theology in Boston University for a post graduate degree in theology, he met a young lady, Coretta Scott who later became his wife. They Luther Jr. later had four children, two daughters and two sons. His family played a huge rule in inspiring him to fight all forms of discrimination as his famous quote, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” shows.
‘Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better,’ as Bill Bradley foretold. Luther Jr leadership started while still young as the class leader in his college years whereby he was turning into a strong worker for civil rights of people from his race. As a young leader and as a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, he accepted the honor of leading the first to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States. This was a bus boycott by the African American, which was remarkable – it lasted 382 days – ending with the abolishment of racial segregation in buses by the high court in December 1956.
1955 had turned to be a very important year for Martin Luther as it was the first year that he decided and started to publicly condemn and oppose all forms of oppression in the country. The bus boycott was widely covered in the world, and garnered a worldwide support especially due to its peaceful nature. During the boycotts, Luther Jr. endured a lot such as numerous arrests, personal abuses and even a bombing to his house which could have broken his spirit yet he pressed on.
Martin Luther King Jr. should be remembered and revered if not for his numerous achievements, for the means he used to achieve them. Previously, leaders and protestors had a norm of constantly igniting violent means to achieve their goals, on contrast with him who advocated for peaceful means of fighting for their rights