Preview

Examples Of Commitment: Martin Luther King Jr.

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1804 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Examples Of Commitment: Martin Luther King Jr.
I define success as being committed. A committed person is one who overcomes obstacles in order to achieve their goal or to promote their cause. Even when the situation seems miserable, a truly committed person presses on to satisfy his ambitions and to create an exceptional, distinct legacy. The belief of working hard and pressing on to achieve success is intrinsic to those who are committed in life. Four people who have shown commitment are myself, Martin Luther King Jr., Bryan A. Stevenson, and my father.
I demonstrated commitment when I went to participate in the Ohio Business Week program. During the week, we were required to work as a team to invent, construct, and present a completely new product. The goal of the program was to model
…show more content…
also demonstrated commitment when he took lead in the Birmingham Campaign of 1963 and when he pressed on and encouraged the March from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Born in 1929, King stood out from other African-Americans in that he received full formal education including a college degree. Since his college years, King was deeply concerned with the division and prejudice towards African-Americans in the United States. Throughout his career of activism against discrimination and segregation, he fully committed himself to non-violence—peaceful and cohesive protest. King was responsible for creating and being the leader of famous civil right organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). He was most notably famous for his non-violent protest against segregation in Southern cities such as Birmingham, Alabama, where his persistence finally won over the stubbornness and racism of the local police and legislature. His Birmingham Campaign aimed to desegregate the city and provide equal hiring opportunities for all African-Americans. Even though the Birmingham police department, led by Eugene Connor, violently resisted the protesters by using high-pressure water hoses, police dogs, and brute force, King and the SCLC achieved their goal by keeping on with the protest until enough national attention was drawn to influence the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The second time he truly demonstrated his commitment to his cause was when he encouraged and finally executed the March from Selma to Montgomery. This March caused the most violent opposition. Local police and the mayor strongly opposed the march and used dogs and extreme cruelty to stop the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    When Dr. King was 25, he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and accept an offer to become the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. During King’s tenure at Dexter, the leading political activists in Montgomery formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to protest the arrest of Rosa Parks, an influential political figure and important NAACP official. Rosa Parks is now remembered today for sitting at the front of a public bus, sectioned for “whites-only”, and refusing to move. This famous and well known example of political activism inspired King and the MIA to lead a boycott on public bus transportation in Montgomery, the first major example of King participating in political activism. With the important encouragement…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The early 1960s was an era of change in the United States. African-Americans led a campaign, known as the civil rights movement, to gain the freedoms and rights they had been unjustly denied. One of the leaders of the movement was Martin Luther King Jr., a Georgian minister and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He traveled the nation to help lead nonviolent protests and fight discrimination. King's toughest challenge came in Birmingham, Alabama, where the movement was forcefully put down by the local government. In April 1963, King was arrested in Birmingham for leading the protests. While serving his sentence, he responded to a local letter published by Alabama clergymen in the newspaper. In his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," King explains what the civil rights movement stands for, what injustices African-Americans face, and why their actions are justified. To achieve his purpose, King eloquently organizes his letter, employs numerous rhetorical devices, and uses logos, pathos, and ethos. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is an incredible literary and historical work,…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King played a major role in leading the civil rights movement and desegregation. In April 1963, King organized a march in Birmingham, Alabama a city that was still separated by race even though 6 years have passed from the Montgomery decision on desegregation. This march was purposely chosen to be located in Birmingham to catch attention of people all over US on how unfair the innocent blacks were treated. Not surprisingly, Bull Corner- the police chief in Alabama obliged. Over 1000 protesters were arrested by the police and put into jail including Martin Luther King. While he was in jail, he wrote “Letter from Birmingham”, which later became one of the most important documents recorded in the civil right movement period.…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King, Jr. and the activists of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to join them. SCLC brought many prominent civil rights and civic leaders to Selma in January 1965. Local and regional protests began, with 3,000 people arrested by the end of February. According to Joseph A. Califano Jr., who served as head of domestic affairs for US President Lyndon Johnson between the years 1965 and 1969, the President viewed King as an essential partner in getting the Voting Rights Act enacted. Califano, who the President also assigned to monitor the final march to Montgomery, noted that Johnson and King talked by telephone on January 15 to plan a strategy for drawing attention to the injustice of using literacy tests and other barriers to stop black Southerners from voting and that King had later informed the President on February 9 of his decision to use Selma to achieve this objective.…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr’s approach to civil rights was nonviolent civil disobedience protests. This meant that when they marched on Birmingham they let the police beat, release dogs on them, spray them with fire hoses and didn’t fight back. They just kept peacefully assembling and marching for their rights. He knew that if the northern media would cover the abuses they faced that it would end segregation in the south. So the march on Birmingham happened, and in front of cameras the children and young people marching through Birmingham Alabama having their rights violently violated went all around the world.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The African-American Civil Rights Movement targeted towards outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans, and predominantly focused on creating equality among all individuals. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. particularly was one of the prominent figures of the movement. Due to the presence of injustice in Birmingham, Alabama, King planned a non-violent protest against racial segregation practiced by the city 's government and downtown retailers. Unfortunately, his plans did not succeed and King was arrested. In response to the arrest, eight clergymen of the White Church of the South criticized Dr. King 's work and accused him for breaking the law. While incarcerated…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    MLK made a massive impact on the civil rights movement and achieved many great things. MLK believed in equality and for all forms of segregation to be abolished. One of Martin Luther king’s greatest achievements was the Montgomery bus boycott. On the 1st of December 1955 Rosa Parks (who was a black woman) refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white person. In Montgomery, Alabama the buses were segregated and the front 5 rows were for white people only. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, even when the driver threatened her with arrest for breaking the law, she still didn’t move. Rosa was part of a group called the NAACP. The group worked with church and college organisations to set up a one day boycott of Montgomery buses on the day the day of Rosa’s trial. Rosa was found guilty. This caused…

    • 1931 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr help to change a part of the world by practicing non-violent protest. King want to make an impact on the problem of segregation so he tried to protest in one of the most segregated place in the United States. So he went to Birmingham, Alabama to lead a nonviolent protest( Martin Luther King Jr). He also joined other civil rights leaders to walk an historical march called March to Washington. Near the Lincoln Memorial King made a speech called “ I Had a Dream Speech” which said all men of different race will become brothers someday. King fellow minister Ralph Abernathy, and Alabama’s state chairman of the NAACP called a public meeting to order. King said to African Americans to bus boycott until they end segregated seating.…

    • 191 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Civil Rights Movement

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Martin Luther King founded an activist organization that was very important for the Civil Rights Movement. In 1957 he founded the SCLC. “ even more important were the direct actions against segregated public facilities… led by Reverend Martin Luther King and the civil rights group he founded in 1957”( Documents in U.S History Civil Rights, 244). One of those actions was taken by Rosa Parks who refused to give her seat at the back of a bus, and she was arrested. Immediately, activists began protesting and it was very successful because by the next year the city desegregated the public transportation system. This was a great example of how alliance amongst people and awareness can bring a major change. Similarly, another group of activists known as the Freedom Riders acted together in order to fight more. CORE sent the riders in buses to protests how the states had ignored the Supreme Court ruling that segregated buses and terminals were unconstitutional (Secondary Source on Civil Rights 1960s, 27). The people in the buses were attacked and many were injured by white people that attacked them with several objects, and even a smoke bomb was used. A second bus marched to Birmingham, just to have the same tragic end as the first one leaving a lot of people injured. To prevent more tragedies form happening, President Kennedy…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Defining success is never as simple as it seems. People spend their entire lives aiming to be successful in their goals, but in actuality, many individuals don’t even know what it is they’re striving to achieve. The reason for this is that success can be defined in a number of different ways depending on the person that you ask. In particular, countless individuals associate success with the widespread idea that achieving milestones such as gaining wealth or power; but for others, defining success is a more difficult, personal, and complex experience.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr., reverend and civil rights leader, was jailed after leading a major protest against unfair hiring practices in Birmingham, Alabama. King was serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was requested by a fellow affiliate, The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, to participate and "engage in [what they called] a nonviolent direct-action program"(164). As King and his affiliates joined together to organize a non-violent protest against racial segregation, King and his fellow brothers and sisters were soon jailed by the white conservative community of Birmingham. While King and his members were locked up in jail, a group of local white clergymen from Birmingham published a statement criticizing the actions of King and his supporters. The local white clergymen attempted to force the African American community to withdraw their support from the civil rights movement. In response, King replies with a letter aimed towards the clergymen as well as the white conservatives of Birmingham. In King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (1963), King attempts to explain his purpose for being in Birmingham and the reasons behind the civil rights movement. Through King's language and rhetorical strategies, he attempts to convince these white clergymen; and the white conservatives, why equal rights should be granted to all African Americans. Moreover, King utilizes the rhetorical devices logos and ethos to appeal to the clergymen's logic, authority, reputation and ethics. As King progresses throughout his letter, his audience will notice that he gradually lessens his use of logos and ethos and effectively stengthens his use of pathos in order to appeal to the white clergymen and the white conservative community.…

    • 1193 Words
    • 35 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Birmingham Segregation

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages

    On April 2, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., arrived in Birmingham to join Shuttlesworth in a direct action campaign to end segregation. Non-violent marches were one of the key tactics that the organizers of the Birmingham campaign sought to employ. A city ordinance, however, required a permit for parades or public demonstrations.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as a pivotal leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King was an advocate for civil disobedience and peaceful protest. In 1963, following his arrest during a protest in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” where various sources of oppression were described along with how to combat such oppression. In the letter, Martin Luther King, Jr. explained promises made to the African Community for equality that were never met. As a result of the broken promises, Dr. King called for pressure to be put on the authority figures who instigated such oppression. Dr. King described the pressure as a “direct action” and that the pressure would force negotiation to occur. Negative emotions were in the African American Community. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that these emotions could manifest themselves a violence, if not expressed. However, Dr. King warned against acts of violence to achieve the desired end of equality. In the letter, Martin Luther King, Jr. revealed to white leaders the racism faced by African Americans and the difficulties faced by the children of this…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    wanted to move the movement to Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham was the most racist city in the south not to mention their violent history. Protestors clashed alongside King and said people will die, and they did. Nonetheless, King made the decision to send school children to the streets of Birmingham. He grasped the mood of the country was getting to the breaking point on the fight for civil rights. The chief of the Birmingham police unleashed his full force on harassing these young kids. The police hosed them down with water, let police dogs attack them, children were demoralized, and arrested. The events of the Birmingham protest were broadcast, on TV throughout the world. They were repelled and often compared the United States to Nazi Germany. The broadcast forced the Kennedy administration to confront the contradiction between the rhetoric of freedom and the reality of racism. King knew he had to keep the pressure to make things happen, as a result the March on Washington.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What does success mean to you? Success is the ability to overcome challenges and to get to your desired outcome. Success depends on you, it is dependent only on what your desired outcome is. According to Abraham Lincoln success is expressed as “always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” Abraham is expressing the importance of the resolution of success. I agree with Abraham there is nothing better than the resolution to succeed. To be more successful you have to make changes in your life, some of these changes are not so easy and conflict with yourself but in order to succeed there must be a change. This year I have to make some changes to myself in order to succeed.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays