Martin Luther King's Legacy

Author: Mathias Silva

Martin Luther King Jr rewrote America with nonviolence, kicking off with the Montgomery Bus Boycott and speaking at the March on Washington, with his dream speech still being the most iconic speech of all time. He fought for equality till he was assassinated in 1968.

Martin Luther King grew up in Atlanta (and used to be a preacher), but started getting major attention during the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott after Rosa Parks got arrested, which forced buses to desegregate. Fast forward to 1963, 250,000 packed D.C for the March on Washington. With the now famous “I have a Dream” speech inspiring plenty of people to help pass the Civil Rights Act in 1964, killing legal segregation.

But he didn't stop there, he took on Chicago housing hate in 1966 and launched the “Poor Peoples Campaign” to fight poverty for everybody. Even with the FBI spying, jail time, and hate for slamming Vietnam as America’s biggest violence dealer in 1967. Sadly in 1968, he was assassinated by James Earl Ray, sparking plenty of riots but sealing laws such as Voting Rights and Fair Housing.

Martin Luther King’s peaceful approach to protesting helped push back injustice, if it wasn't for him who knows how society would be nowadays. We celebrate him every January, but obviously racism and inequality hasn't been completely eliminated. Although hopefully with every year, we’ll grow closer and closer to achieving that outcome.