Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. brought so much hope and healing to America. His legacy is one which teaches valuable lessons of courage, compassion, dignity, humility and perseverance. With violent protests overtaking the news, MLK Day (January 18th), is a great time to stop and remind ourselves of the powerful leadership Dr. King provided in times of difficulty. His forgiveness and nonviolent demonstrations lead a nation to change for the better.
Brief Facts about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- King lead the American Civil Rights Movement for almost twelve and a half years.
- During this time, he made great progress in bringing America towards racial equality. Due to his outstanding leadership, he is regarded as one of the greatest nonviolent leaders in history. Achieving this took great perseverance because many people wanted to advocate for equality at any cost, including violence.
- Instead of using violence to be heard, Dr. King’s nonviolent style was inspired by teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and his deep Christian faith. Many people were not sure if his technique would work, yet he proved that the power of words and nonviolent resistance could achieve what seemed to be impossible goals in civil rights for all races.
- King did not stop at advocating for racial equality, in fact, he also went on to lead campaigns against poverty and international conflict.
- Martin Luther King Jr. had four different philosophies: Triple Evils, Six Principles of Nonviolence, Six Steps of Nonviolent Social Change and The Beloved Community. His message in each of these philosophies comes to no surprise because Dr. King was always advocating for nonviolent justice.
To find more information about MLK Day, please click here. Want to know some fun facts about Dr. King, like that his name really isn’t Martin? Click here to find out more!
In relation to our civil rights, we recently talked about Human Rights Day, learn more about it here.
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