In this project I am going to be looking at Martin Luther King and his part in the fight for civil rights.

Background

The Black people in the USA had been slaves until the end of American civil war in 1865, after which slavery was abolished. But, although after this war the American constitution declared everybody to be equal, much discrimination towards the blacks still continued. There was still segregation in most public places and many private places – swimming pools, buses, taxis, play grounds, houses, schools, hospitals, trains, churches, restaurants and theatres. The armed services also still had a segregation system in place. If a black person was associated with white then the black was often beaten or burnt by gangs of white. In 1954 the United States Supreme Court declared that separate education was unequal, and therefore illegal. All over the South, black people began to assert their newly declared rights, and to challenge local race laws more aggressively. Civil rights and church leaders in Montgomery called for a boycott of the city’s segregated bus system. One of the leaders of the Montgomery bus boycott was a young Baptist minister called Martin Luther King, who had been impressed by the non—violent approach of Mahatma Gandhi in India. Soon ministers, students and many other black people in the southern states were putting non- violent protests into effect. And so the fight for civil rights began.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on the 15^th Jan 1929 to Martin Luther King, a Baptist Minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church and Alberta Williams King a daughter of a previous Baptist Minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Martin Luther was born in the upstairs bedroom of 501 Auburn Avenue in Atlanta Georgia (Appendix 1). This was his house for the next twelve years and he lived there with his parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and grandparents. This was situated in the "Sweet Auburn" the centre of the black Atlanta (Appendix 2). He grew up learning about "Racial discrimination". Coming from a very religious family made him strong. Later in life he used his strength to educate people about the racial discrimination going on and to deter them from being racially discriminate. At the age of fifteen "M.L" (as he was known by his family) went to college on a special programme for gifted children. In 1946 he gained his degree in divinity (a study of religion). He then trained to become a minister like this father and grandfather. He was ordained in as a minister 1948, and he soon began preaching.

In 1955 Martin Luther King lead a bus boycott in Montgomery to protest against racial segregation on public transport because a black woman was arrested for not giving up her seat for a white passenger. This protest lasted 381 days, during which Martin Luther King’s house was bombed and he was threatened a nd arrested. The protest ended successfully when the Supreme Court outlawed all segregated public transport in the city. After this protest Martin Luther King became known as a respected leader.

In 1959 Martin Luther King visited India and he began to understand the teachings of Gandhi’s principles on non-violence persuasion, which he wanted to use in his protests. In 1963 he led a massive civil rights campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, and organized drives for black voter registration, desegregation, and better education and housing throughout the South. During these non-violent campaigns he was arrested several times. He then led a historic march, in which some 200,000 took part in, on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, August 28, 1963, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

Broadening Concerns

His campaign broadened from civil rights for the black population to a criticism of the Vietnam War and of society's neglect of the poor.

In 1964 Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Martin Luther King’s delivered many speeches; some of the most famous ones were: -

"I have a dream, that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed....I have a dream that one day sons of slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down at the, table of brotherhood....We will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. And all God’s children — black, white, Jews, Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics — will join hands and sing ‘Free at last!’ Thank God all mighty, we are free at last!"

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character."

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defence than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death"

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."

On the 3^rd of April 1968 Martin Luther King made a speech " I may not get to the promised land with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will." This was a speech that alluded his possible death. The next day he was assassinated by a sniper (James Earl Ray) in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray was arrested for the murder; he pleaded guilty and in March 1969 was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

Kennedy announced Martin Luther King’s death in a speech. In the speech he praised Martin Luther King work

He said that we should follow in his steps

He also said that Black and White people should get on together.

In 1983 the third Monday in January was designated a national holiday in honour of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday; his Atlanta birthplace and gravesite were made a national historic site. Martin Luther King died at a young age of 39 for what he believed, therefor he will always be remembered as a martyr.

Standing Tall

In Honour of Martin Luther King

Some kings rule their kingdoms sitting down
Surrounded by luxury, soft cushions and fans
But this King stood strong
stood proud
stood tall

When the driver told Rosa "Move to the back of the bus!"
When the waiter told students "We don't serve your kind!"
When the Mayor told voters "Your vote don't count!"
And when the sheriff told marchers "Get off our streets!"
Using fire hoses, police dogs and cattle prods
to move them along
This King stood strong
stood proud
stood tall
speaking of peace
of love
and children
hand in hand
free at last
free at last

When some yelled for violence
for angry revenge
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
He stood his ground
Preaching peace

And when some spit out hate
He stood there smiling
Spreading love
Until it rolled like the sea across the land
Sweeping away Jim Crow
Breaking down the walls
Ringing the bell
Joyfully
For Freedom

Until
Standing on the mountain top
They shot him
Coldly
Hoping to see him fall
Hoping to put him away
To bring him low

But this King
even in death
even today
stands strong
stands proud
stands tall
And we remember

By Jamieson McKenzie

I like this poem because it really describes Martin Luther King as being a Martyr.

Malcolm X was born in 1925 in Nebraska to a Baptist minister (like M. L. King). He was raised in Lansing, Michigan where at the age of six, his father was murdered after receiving threats from the Ku Klux Klan (a black terrorist group). Malcolm's mother suffered a nervous breakdown and the eight children were taken into care by the welfare department. Malcolm was sent first to a foster home and then to a reform school. After the eighth grade, Malcolm moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked at various jobs and eventually became involved in criminal activity. In 1946 he was sentenced to prison for burglary. While in prison, Malcolm became interested in the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Black Muslims. Malcolm spent his time in prison educating himself and learning more about the Black Muslims, who advocated racial separation. When Malcolm was released in 1952, he joined a Black Muslim temple in Detroit, and took the name Malcolm X, symbolically replacing the name derived from the heritage of slavery with an X to represent the unknown name of his African ancestors. By the early 1960s, the Nation of Islam had become well known and Malcolm was their most prominent spokesperson. In 1964 Malcolm broke with the Nation of Islam and formed a secular Black Nationalist group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Also in 1964 Malcolm made a hajj (pilgrimage) to the Islamic holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. As a result of this trip, and other travels to Africa and Europe, he renounced his previous teaching that all whites are evil, began advocating racial solidarity. On February 21, 1965, while addressing an OAAU rally in New York, Malcolm was assassinated by men allegedly connected with the Black Muslims.

Racism still exists in minorities all over the world. A good example of this was that ten years ago Stephen Lawrence (a black teenage boy) was murdered. When Stephen Lawrence was murdered no killer was ever found, later it was discovered that the metropolitan police was an institute on racists and they had not investigated his death properly because of the colour of his skin. I think people are racist because they don’t understand and are afraid. I think to cut down racism we should educate people that it is wrong to be racist and that racism really upsets people. Also there should be laws that: - "there is no segregation" and "everyone has equal opportunities."

In this project I have learnt how badly the black people in America were treated before the civil rights laws were enforced. And how great people like Martin Luther King are, who stand up for what they believe and are even willing to die for their beliefs.

In this project I have improved my skill of bringing information from many different sources together and my vocabulary.

Internet :- http://www.nps.gov/malu/

http://dewey.chs.chico.k12.ca.us/king.html

http://www.mlking.org/

http://www.jimhrc.com/freeproj.htm

http://dearborn.boston.k12.ma.us/gr7i.htm

http://martinlutherking.8m.com/

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

CD ROM’s :- Oxford interactive Encyclopaedia

Encarta ’98 Encyclopaedia

Hutchinsons Educational Encyclopaedia

Books :- Children’s Encyclopaedia Brittannica

Oxford Children’s Encyclopaedia

People of the Millennium

Peoples 20^th century (BBC)