Encounter with Martin Luther King, Jr.

The person behind the fame… Think about a celebrity whom you would like to meet. What interest you about that person? If you did meet a celebrity, would you want that person to fit his or her public image exactly? Or would you rather discover a more private side? Why?

Civil Rights Hero Today, Martin Luther King, Jr. is honored as a hero who died for the cause of civil rights. When Maya Angelou met King, he was just becoming famous – and he was a controversial figure in American life. Some people thought he was stirring up trouble between the races and that he should be more patient about waiting for discrimination to end.

Civil Rights Hero Angelou met King while she was working for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which King was in charge of. The SCLC promoted nonviolent protests as a way of gaining civil rights for African Americans. Its members campaigned for desegregation, staged demonstrations supporting civil rights legislation, and coordinated voter registration drives.

Character Study A character study is a piece of nonfiction whose purpose is to provide insight into the personality of a contemporary figure. A writer of a character study usually provides details about the subject’s speech, actions, and facial expressions. In addition, the writer may record the reactions of other people to the subject.

First Person Account This character study is a first-person account. As you read Angelou’s first-person account of her encounter with King, notice the details that give insight into King’s character.

Summary A summary is a short restatement of the main ideas and important points of what you’ve read. In preparation for summarizing the main ideas of a character study, you should keep track of the most important things you learn about the subject – in this case, Martin Luther King, Jr.