Life and Assasination of Martin Luther King

==Life and Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. == April 4, 1968

The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968 was a world-changing event. Martin Luther King was at the forefront of Negro American’s striving for rights and freedom. Martin Luther King a Baptist minister in Alabama founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and had his first success in civil rights in 1959, which resulted in Negroes being able to sit next to White people when travelling on public transport. Martin Luther King with this success went on to lead huge campaigns supporting ‘Kennedy’s civil rights legislation’ using non-violent tactics such as sit-ins, protest marches and Boycotts. Luther King had many more successes in his carrier and in 1964 was awarded a Nobel Prize from his maintenance of non-violence in his political work. Martin Luther King is most famous for his “I have a dream” speech and it is because of his great achievements that his assassination was such a huge world event.

After Luther King’s death there was a storm of grief and rage, with riots breaking out all over America including in Washington, D.C. by Negros. It took a record 50,000 National Guardsmen (for civil emergencies) to restore order after Martin Luther King’s assassination by a white man called, James Earl Ray. The week of Luther King’s death ended with 46 people dead, 4,000 injured, massive arrests and about $500 million dollars in damages.

Although King’s assassin James Earl Ray was caught and sentenced, Negroes were not satisfied, even with the right to vote black Americans would not be happy until they were granted all the rights and privileges of white Americans.

With Martin Luther King, Negro Americans achieved their dream and were granted equality. This greatly shook the world and it is because of this that the assassination of Martin Luther King is such as huge event as he was the one who made it all happen.