Martin Luther King Jr

Who was Martin Luther King?

• An American clergyman, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience. 

• Born on January 15th, 1929. Died April 4th, 1968 (aged 39).

• King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president.

• King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

When was the speech?

• "I Have a Dream" is a 17-minute public speech delivered on August 28, 1963.

• The speech, delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.

• The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.

African-American Civil Rights Movement

• The African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) refers to the social movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against black Americans and restoring voting rights to them.

• The emergence of the Black Power Movement, which lasted roughly from 1966 to 1975, enlarged the aims of the Civil Rights Movement to include racial dignity, economic and political self-sufficiency, and freedom from oppression by white Americans.

• Acts of nonviolent protest and civil disobedience produced crisis situations between activists and government authorities.

• Forms of protest and civil disobedience included boycotts such as the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama; "sit-ins" such as the influential Greensboro sit-ins in North Carolina; marches, such as the Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama; and a wide range of other nonviolent activities.

Context of the speech

• The speech was a call for an end to racism in the United States. It was about the freedom and rights to vote for african-americans and equality.