When I reflect back on what I learned growing up in regard to American history there is one person that really made a imprint on me and that was Martin Luther King Jr. He not only changed the course of history but also became the most important voice of the American civil rights movement for which he worked hard for the equal rights of all.

Mr. King was born on January 25, 1920 as Michael Luther King Jr. however,would later go on to have his name changed to Martin. The King men which included his grandfather, his dad, as well as himself were all devout pastors of a Baptist Church in Atlanta that lasted from 1914 until Martins' untimely death in 1968. Martin Luther King Jr. graduated from a segregated Georgia high school at the remarkable age of 15 and what is equally impressive, is that he received his B.A. in 1948 from Morehouse College in Georgia where both his grandfather and father all graduated from as well. Then he went on to enroll in graduate studies at Boston University and actually completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and then received his degree in 1955.

Martin Luther King Jr had many roles in life but the one that he felt the most passionate about was his convictions as a civil rights activist for members of his race. He was best known for his use of nonviolent resistance to overcome the injustice that humans had to endure while in the presence of segregation. He never ever gave up when it came to trying to end these segregation laws and stood by his dream that one day we all would live up to our creed that all men are created equal. Furthermore, he did what ever it took to make people truly understand that we are in fact all equal. The sad part to all of this is the idea that one man would have to try and convice people of something they already knew.

Unfortunately Martin Luther King Jr. would not get to live a very long life as he would be assassinated prior to his march on on April 4, 1968 in Memphis Tennessee. It was a tragic day and a great man lost his life in the battle to make life better for all of us not just some of us.

I would like to end with this quote by Martin Luther King Jr. that I feel speaks volumes, "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."