Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr!!!

Without people like Dr. King we wouldn't have the majority of the benefits that we take for granted everyday of our lives. Wake up people, no matter how good you think you have it, it is still not would it could be if we pulled together and actually stood for something. Check Out the "I Have A Dream" speech inside!!

On January 15, 1929, one of the main leaders of the American civil rights movement was born. A Baptist minister by training, King became a civil rights activist early in his career, leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helping to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. His efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, raising public consciousness of the civil rights movement and establishing King as one of the greatest orators in American history. In 1964, Dr. King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 and in 2004, King was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Day was established as a national holiday in the United States in 1986.

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