Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (http://cctvimedia.clearchannel.com/ wpmi/martin%20luther%20king%20jr.jpg)

My vision of a hero is a person who is brave, caring and handles situations without resorting to violence. This person is Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a man you could trust. He was the world’s voice of reason. Martin Luther King had many great characteristics and they all guided him along the way to better our world. The service he did for the people in this country is still remembered. His peacemaking ways have inspired us all. He’s my hero, and by the end of this paper he might be yours, too.

Martin Luther King, Jr. accomplished many things in his lifetime. He especially believed in equality. He fought hard to make peace and change the minds of many racists. Martin was a minister, so he spoke at his church and many other places. His most memorable speech was at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. He spoke to thousands of willing participants (white and black) in the Civil Rights Movement. “We hold these to truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.” Those were Thomas Jefferson's words, spoken by Mr. King in his speech. He also boycotted with many other African-Americans back then. He was put in jail and still did not let himself be consumed with rage and use violence. He pulled African-Americans together to stop racism. This was not an easy task to accomplish where he lived.

Martin Luther King, Jr. grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. He lived there until he went to college at the age of fifteen. He became a Baptist minister at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. Martin went to Boston and received his doctorate degree. When he returned to the South, he became a pastor of a church in Montgomery, Alabama. From there he went on to achieve many goals. He helped diminish the bigotry in the minds of racists. He joined the boycott started by Rosa Parks (she refused to give her bus seat to a white person, and this was against the law) and helped guide it along the way. He helped African-Americans join together and created equality in the South. This was not an easy thing to do in his time.

Martin Luther King, Jr. lived from 1929-1968. Back then there were a lot of places that were still segregated. The blacks, no matter how fatigued, had to give up their seat to a white person if the white person wanted it. There were signs put up everywhere. They either showed “White Only” or “Blacks Only". There were instructions on what fountain to use or where to sit in a restaurant. Sometimes African-Americans would be refused service; this was by white restaurant owners. This started one of the many boycotts. African-Americans would sit in a white restaurant and wait to be served. They knew they would not be served, so they just sat there quietly or read books. The whites did not like this so they threw items at the sitters or tried to beat them. The blacks did not move. The whites said they would call the police if the blacks did not leave. Since the blacks did not budge, the police came and took them to jail. They also started walking to school and work because they did not want to have to sit in the back of a bus. This boycott lasted over a year. For leading the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King was awarded a Nobel Prize. One day Martin Luther King, Jr. went outside on his balcony and there was a sniper on a roof. Marin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968.

In conclusion, Martin Luther King, Jr. accomplished many great things during his life. He has impacted my life deeply. If it were not for him, there would be lots of racism in my school. If this happened, there would be too much attention given to bad students and not enough to my education. When I grow up I want to follow in his footsteps. Just like my hero Martin Luther King, I want to win a Nobel Prize. That would be my greatest accomplishment. Luckily, we had Martin Luther King, Jr. to put an end to racism. There is still some racism, but with Martin Luther King Jr.'s words in our heart, we can abolish whatever bigotry there is left.