How Important Was the Contribution of Martin Luther King To The Civil Rights Movement 55-65?

1955 to 1965 has been classed as the “golden age” of the civil rights movement. Undoubtedly Kings influence, he became the first out right leader of a diverse civil rights struggle. King was gifted with exceptional public speaking abilities & charisma which in due course changed and inspired a entire nation. King had many successes which include the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, the Birmingham campaign in 1963 and the March on Washington in 1963. Although we cannot ignore the various pressure groups other than kings SCLC. CORE, SNCC and NAACP had a major contribution into improving millions of lives. We also cannot ignore the Federal government and the relationship King had with them. In short King was a key player in civil rights but other groups and organisations also contributed to the civil rights movement.

Montgomery Bus boycott – 1955
In 1955 buses all over the south were still segregated, this meant that the front section of the bus was reserved for whites only this meant blacks had to sit at the back, furthermore if a bus was full blacks would have to stand. The boycott started after Rosa Parks refused to leave her seat, she was arrested and fined $14. Because many blacks couldn’t afford cars to travel many resorted to using buses. The boycotts had a major influence on the bus company’s because the majority of customers were in fact black. By boycotting the buses the companies lost 65% of their revenue. To sustain not using the buses the MIA using carpooling to get bus users around. King had no direct action to the boycott its self but did lead a march which lead to his arrest along with 150 other black protesters. This backfired and drew media attention towards the boycott. King was sentenced to a year in prison but because of the effectiveness