...Dr. Martin Luther King’s Funeral and Assassination Word spread like wildfire when the news of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination hit the public. As the leading civil rights activist in the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. preached words of peace and understanding among races. A well known name throughout the North and South, King gained extreme popularity within the African American community. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated a wave of sorrow spread across the nation. With rage, sadness, and hopelessness in the public eye, clearly the assassination hurt more than just one man, it hurt a nation. A single shot killed 39-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. At the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, a sniper from about “50-100 yards away,” shot and struck Dr. King’s neck, while instantaneously killing him (“Martin Luther King Slain” 139). From the crime scene, F.B.I. investigators traced a “white Mustang automobile,” and an “‘unusually large’ amount of physical evidence” (Waldron 1). With fingerprints, the actual rifle, and eyewitnesses as definite pieces of evidence, F.B.I. agents concluded that a Caucasian man executed the assassination and that he would be very easily caught (Waldron 1). Eyewitness testimony even stated that the “saw a white man [ran] from the house immediately after the shooting” (“Martin Luther King Slain” 140). As a shocking and horrific event, the assassination of Dr. King proved to test the nation’s character. Shortly...
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...Dr. Martin Luther King’s Funeral and Assassination Word spread like wildfire when the news of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination hit the public. As the leading civil rights activist in the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. preached words of peace and understanding among races. A well known name throughout the North and South, King gained extreme popularity within the African American community. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated a wave of sorrow spread across the nation. With rage, sadness, and hopelessness in the public eye, clearly the assassination hurt more than just one man, it hurt a nation. A single shot killed 39-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. At the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, a sniper from about “50-100 yards away,” shot and struck Dr. King’s neck, while instantaneously killing him (“Martin Luther King Slain” 139). From the crime scene, F.B.I. investigators traced a “white Mustang automobile,” and an “‘unusually large’ amount of physical evidence” (Waldron 1). With fingerprints, the actual rifle, and eyewitnesses as definite pieces of evidence, F.B.I. agents concluded that a Caucasian man executed the assassination and that he would be very easily caught (Waldron 1). Eyewitness testimony even stated that the “saw a white man [ran] from the house immediately after the shooting” (“Martin Luther King Slain” 140). As a shocking and horrific event, the assassination of Dr. King proved to test the nation’s character. Shortly...
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...Martin Luther King, Jr.: His Life and Battle for Freedom Allan M. Ysunza Kaplan University SS310 Exploring the 1960s: An Interdisciplinary Approach Dr. Ronald K. Bolender March 09, 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr.: His Life and Battle for Freedom In my unit 5 project I will discuss the life of Martin Luther King Jr. I will define how his personal ideologies might have contributed to his assassination. I will discuss the implications of his assassinations from a sociological perspective. All through the discussions, I will explore his life and journey as freedom leader and his will to gain justice via nonviolent and peaceful protest against racial discrimination and oppressions. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was destined to be a preacher like his father and after seminary became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama at the age of 25. King believed that black and white people should resist laws that they thought unjust. If necessary, he thought, they should disobey such laws. But King also said that they should be ready to accept punishment for breaking such laws. In some cases, they should even go to jail. He had grown up with the injustices in the South, and it did not take him long to join in the fight. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 in response to Rosa Parks’ arrest for refusing to give up her seat. He was arrested, but ultimately ended racial segregation on...
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...Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination | History class Fall semester Nov. 22/ 2011 | Susan Kennedy | The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968 was a tragic blow, not only for the civil rights movement but also for the rights movement of all lower class citizens in America. Dr. King represented one of the few voices in 1968 able to form any type of consensus among increase-polarized groups in society. His death inaugurated a period of some of the worst race riots in American history. However, his death did not signal a end to the Civil Rights Movement. The movement had been splitting into factions for several years before he was assassinated. Dr. King’s death did accelerate the polarization of American society. The Black power became the leading force behind the transforming Civil Right Movement. However, to a far greater degree, King’s death signaled an alienation among white supporters of the movement who saw in King their opportunity to participate in the movement, while opposed to the movement hardened their stance in the face of the emerging drive for black self-determination. Robbed of the man who galvanized their community, outraged African Americans took to the streets to protest. Furor erupted among blacks in many cities as angry African Americans refused to heed the President\’s call for calm. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a vital figure of the modern era. His lectures and dialogues stirred the concern and sparked...
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...New York Senator, Robert F. Kennedy, gave a speech to a group of mostly African American’s about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. as he landed in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 4th 1968, the same night the prominent leader, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed by a white man named James Earl Ray. Robert F. Kennedy was the first to inform the death of Dr. King to the crowd which gave him the opportunity to speak of the peace and the unity their leader followed hoping to settle the potential rioters and riots and tension that have been occurring throughout America as the devastating news spread. His message is compelling because he makes great use of connecting with his audience. O’Connor claims that Kennedy’s speech was immediately effective because there were no riots in Indianapolis compared to other Black cities in the nation and I feel like this is a valid point made. Although Kennedy’s speech was short, it was within an appropriate amount of time, given the fact that he didn’t have a lot of time to prepare the speech since he had also just recently heard the news about the death of Martin Luther King. He appeals to his audience with the use of...
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...As a person think, would I die for what I believe in? Martin Luther King was a vital leader of the black community during the civil rights movement. Through his upbringing, his role in the civil rights movement, and his assassination. Martin Luther King shaped the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King’s father and mother influenced him throughout his upbringing. Martin was taught peace by his parents. Martin’s parents told him that he should not hate white people and that his duty as a Christian was to love everyone (Bader 8). Non-Violence was something instilled in Martin at an early age. His father as a preacher knew violence was not the answer (Bader 2 and 6). Community was another value Martin Luther King Jr. Learned from his father....
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...Julius Caesar assassination compared to MLK were quite contrast. The conspirators thought that killing Caesar would reestablish democracy in Rome. He was a military commander, dictator, and politician. Brutus says, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen?…as he was valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him”(Shakespeare Julius Caesar 3.2.21-7). Caesar had the loyalty with the army he had a lot of power and everyone knew it. A group of senators planned to collect knives and hide them and kill Caesar in Senate. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated because people did not approve of his actions....
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...Civil Rights in the Sixties The 1960s brought about social change in America. America elected the second youngest and the first Catholic president (John F. Kennedy) and the Anti-War Movement began. The Anti-War Movement was based on people mostly the youth of America protesting a war (Vietnam War) that they believed America could not win. At the same time people were protesting the war they were objecting to the social injustice surrounding minorities; thus began the Civil Rights Movement. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was instrumental in starting The Civil Rights Movement the yearlong battle for equal treatment on buses gave minorities the strength to fight for more equal treatment and gave rise to Martin Luther King Jr. who was elected by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to lead the boycott. During The Montgomery Bus Boycott whites tried to use the media to put out false stories by claiming the boycott have come to an end and that minorities settled for the same moderate desegregation plan that they received before the boycott. Public opion in Montgomery Alabama at first was against the boycott, but once the business community realized they were losing money because minorities were no longer shopping downtown their opion began to wane. Throughout the civil rights movement the media was a constant force some believe that without the media exposing the at times moving and often unsightly events of the movement that it would not advanced as much as it did. Some Southern...
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...Sykes 1 Eddie Sykes Jr. Political Science 1510 Teacher name April 20, 2015 Sykes 2 Martin Luther King Jr. lost his life trying to better the lives of African-American people. He was one of the greatest American Civil Rights leaders of the 1960s. Second child of Martin Luther King Sr. (1899-1984), a pastor, and Alberta Williams King (1904-1974), a former schoolteacher, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. Along with his older sister, the future Christine King Farris (born 1927), and younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King (1930-1969), he grew up in the city’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood, then home to some of the most prominent and prosperous African Americans in the country. (History.com) A gifted student, King attended segregated public schools and at the age of 15 was admitted to Morehouse College, the alma mater of both his father and maternal grandfather, where he studied medicine and law. Although he had not intended to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the ministry, he changed his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, an influential theologian and outspoken advocate for racial equality. After graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his predominantly white senior class. (History.com) Sykes 3 King then enrolled in a graduate program at Boston...
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...Time Capsule Unearthed - The 1960’s Revisited Kim A Murphy SS31-10RP1 March 11, 2014 Evelina Panayotova Time Capsule Unearthed - The 1960’s Revisited In the 2325 there has been a monumental discovery at the historic site of the Woodstock Music Festival held in Bethel New York in 1969. Our archeologists have unearthed a time capsule filled with a treasure trove of items that seem to remarkably symbolize the 1960’s as a whole. The items found were: a contraceptive known as “The Pill”, A Peace sign, a picture of Martin Luther King Jr., Beatles memorabilia, and a newspaper article from 1963 on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Development of oral contraceptives In 1948 with the help of a small grant awarded from the Planned Parenthood organization (Parethood, 2014) and with the assistance of Dr. Min Chueh Chang American Biologist Dr. Gregory Pincus, began working in the early 1950’s on a hormonal contraceptive (Bio.com, 1996-2013). The experiment was using progesterone to inhibit ovulation. They were later joined by a fertility specialist Dr. John Rock and began human trials in the late 1950’s. Margaret Sanger, the Founder of Planned Parenthood, Medical Director, and Vice-President of the organization was a champion of the work being completed by Dr. Pincus and his colleagues. Frustrated with the meager amount of the Planned Parenthood grant Sanger joined forces with Katharine McCormick, biologist, millionaire philanthropist, and activist who was highly involved...
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...Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a solid force in the fight against racism and segregation in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was a man with profound speaking skills that led to his influence of the minority peoples of the United States. King was a sincere man who was against using violence to rise above the roadblocks thrown in the way of Black people all across the country. Background Michael Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929 to the Reverend Michael Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. The Louisiana State University (1996-2011) website Michael was the first born son and second child for the couple. Michael Luther King, Jr. had an older sister named Christine King Farris and a younger brother the late Reverend Alfred Daniel Williams King. When Michael was young King, Sr. started calling himself and his oldest son Martin. On June 19, 1953 King, Sr. performed the marriage ceremony for King, Jr. and Coretta Scott. Together they had four children, Yolanda Denise born in 1955, Martin Luther III in 1957, Dexter Scott in 1961, and Bernice Albertine born in 1963 (Louisiana State University, 1996-2011). King’s father and grandfather were both members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Atlanta, Georgia. His father’s own fight for equality in voting rights and teacher salaries helped to shape King into a political icon of the future (Carson, 2000). Education King attended two...
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...and provoke less negative reaction in the British at that time. Like Mohatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. was also an advocate and supporter of the same method of passive resistance, which he believed, was the better method at the time and situation. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in January 15, 1929 in Atlanta. He died due to assassination on a hotel balcony on April 4, 1968. Later on in his life, he became the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which had a purpose to provide a new leadership to the movement of Civil Rights which ideology was based on Christianity, whereas the actions and procedures more based on Gandhi; Martin Luther King Jr. practiced Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence. Both Mahatma Gandhi’s and Martin Luther King Jr.’s core belief and the way to attain their goals were pretty similar in a way. Mahatma Gandhi believed that with nonviolent method of fighting with the political or social issues in his times was the best way. He did it through protests for example like the March that inaugurated the Civil Disobedience which he led to the sea in order to gather salt with his followers but after which he was unfortunately arrested for protesting against the high taxation on the salt and breaking certain laws. He felt like he had to do it. He considered that law unjust which had to be violated for the better. Like Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. did many great things in his life by implementing the...
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...Martin Luther King Jr was born on January 15, 1929 in his small home in Atlanta Georgia. His father, Reverend Martin Luther King, was often referred to as Daddy King. His mothers name was Alberta Williams King. He was a middle child; he had an older sister, Willie Christine King and a younger brother Alfred Danial Williams King. His father was born “Michael King” and Martin Luther King, Jr. was originally named “Michael King, Jr.” After his father traveled to Europe in 1934 and visited Germany, he decided to change both of their names in honor of the German Protestant leader Martin Luther. Growing up Martin Luther King, Jr ran with a small group of boys, they often would run after girls. His behavior was typical of any other adolescent boy. He was a person just like you and me. When he was younger, he sang with his church choir at the premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind. An interesting fact is that Martin Luther King, Jr. and his siblings spent a great deal of time with their grandparents. They all lived together, just as I live with my grandparents. His sister Christine King Farris was born on September 11, 1927. She married Issac Newton Farris who recently died. They had two children. She currently teaches at Spelman College and is the author of several books and is a renowned public speaker on various topics, including the King family, multicultural education and teaching. For many years, she served as the Vice Chair and Treasurer of the King Center...
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...The Drum Major Instinct. Martin Luther King, Jr. remains arguably the most recognizable African American figure in world history. First thrust into the international spotlight courtesy of his leadership of a boycott of the public bus system in Montgomery, Alabama, where he was pastor of a local church, King became the lightning rod for the civil rights movement that emerged in the wake of the successful boycott. During the 1960s he gave innumerable speeches characterized by oratorical genius, led a succession of mass marches in the heart of segregated America and helped to reconstruct American race relations before his assassination in 1968. Ever since Montgomery he has attracted the attention of biographers and historians keen to understand what made him such a magnetic and inspirational leader and what made the story of the civil rights movement so compelling. Martin Luther King is most remembered for a speech given during one of the finest hours of the civil rights movement -- a sermon that set the moral tone for the movement. But while the Aug. 28, 1963, sermon "I Have A Dream," delivered during the March on Washington, framed much of Martin Luther King Jr’s notions of a free America, it was not the speech that defined his legacy. One of the world's best known advocates of non-violent social change strategies, Martin Luther King Jr., synthesized ideals drawn from many different cultural traditions. Recent studies of him emphasize the extent to which his ideals were rooted...
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...Time Capsule Latanya Gonzalez Kaplan University SS310-14 Time Capsule The year is 2325 and being the prominent archeologist I have become, I have been summoned to a dig site where a time capsule from the 1960’s has been discovered. After carefully unearthing this delicate finding, my colleagues and I discover five significant things from the 1960’s. First brought out is an antiwar sign, obviously hand made. Second from the capsule is a portrait of our 35th President, President John F. Kennedy. Third is the Woman’s Movement of the 1960’s. Fourth is a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. The final, fifth item to be brought from the time capsule, is the Civil Rights Movement. Each item is a significant and defining factor of the 1960’s era; a part of history that remains embedded in the American people’s minds and hearts. The antiwar handheld sign was the first to come out of the time capsule. This sign is still legible. The sign is a wood stick with a thin flat 4X4 piece of wood stapled to it. The flat wood sign has “Stop the War” spray-painted in red on one side. On the other side of the flat wood board is a peace sign spray-painted in yellow. The wood stick had a thin scarf tied to it still. This piece of history has significant meaning to the antiwar era of the 1960’s. This sign most likely was held and waved through the air at many of the antiwar protest often held by the so-called hippies of the 60’s. Many individuals who were against the war in Vietnam...
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