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Martin Luther King Nonviolent Movement

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Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” Martin Luther King was a civil rights activist who wanted better treatment and opportunities for black people. Throughout his fight, the civil rights activist displayed characteristics and actions that made him the perfect person to guide the African American people towards equality. The leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was able to unite a divided nation at a time in which racial tension was at its peak. Through his words and actions, Martin Luther King was able to influence movements that derived long after his departure. One movement that was inspired by the actions of Martin Luther King is the anti-government …show more content…
The importance of nonviolence was demonstrated by Martin Luther King during the march from Selma to Montgomery. In the march, Dr. King led a 54 mile march to Montgomery and was met with opposition during one of those days. The day was known as “Bloody Sunday” and state troopers were maliciously attacking protestors in an attempt to stop the march. The march ended on this day but another march was organized with even more people in attendance. As a result, the march to Montgomery was completed by using the nonviolent approach. Despite the fact that the nonviolent approach wasn’t necessarily working at first, Dr. King knew that continuous demonstrations with a nonviolent approach would be key in order to gain more followers and create life-long change. Dr. King understood that by rallying more and more people to march, he was increasing the likelihood of change. In the end, his marches were successful in gaining more followers and helped change the way black people were seen. In the anti-government movement, protests were continuously performed even without government approval. For instance, “Oromo students were continuing to be detained… after protests throughout Oromia” (Human Rights Watch 2). The actions of these Oromian students are important because they are attempting to show that there is an issue in Ethiopia and the amount of people protesting shows the amount of people impacted by the issue. They are attempting to gain state attention and inform other citizens of the injustices in society. As a result, their demonstration would then have importance because then a response would have to be made by the government. The actions of the past and present are connected because they were both performed in order to create change. The protests and demonstrations were done to inform people and to

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