1. The Civil Rights Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Civil Rights Movement

2. Civil Rights
Rights that apply to every citizen of a country

3. Segregation

4. MLK’s Early Life Born in 1929
Graduated from a segregated high school at age fifteen

5. MLK’s Early Life
Voted senior president of a predominately white senior class at the seminary
Married Coretta Scott and had two sons and two daughters

6. MLK as Minister
Became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954 and a member of the executive committee of the NAACP

7. The Bus Boycott
Lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott—the first great nonviolent Negro protest, which lasted 382 days

8. The Bus Boycott
During the boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, and he was subjected to personal abuse
Finally, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on busses was unconstitutional

9. Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
King and other SCLC leaders encouraged use of nonviolent action
These actions included marches,
demonstrations, and boycotts
The violent responses to these peaceful actions forced the government to confront the issues of injustice and racism in the South

10. I Have a Dream
King & other black leaders organized the 1963 March on Washington
200,000 civil rights supporters gathered in DC to hear his speech
The march & speech helped lead to the Civil Rights Act of 1964

11. Nobel Peace Prize Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964
Gave the $54,123 of prize money to organizations that furthered the civil rights movement

12. Selma Marches
In 1965 SCLC joined a voting-rights protest march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery in support of black voting rights in the state
Police beat and tear-gassed the marchers just outside of Selma.
The day came to be known as Bloody Sunday
The march created support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965

13. Selma Marches
After the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed, many white Americans who had supported MLK believed that the job was done
The focus began to shift from civil rights to
the anti-war (Vietnam) movement

14. Economic Issues
Throughout 1966 and 1967 King increasingly turned the focus of his civil rights activism toward economic issues
This emphasis on economic rights took King to Memphis, Tennessee in support of striking black garbage workers in 1968

15. Death He was assassinated in Memphis by a sniper on April 4, 1968
News of King’s assassination prompted riots in more than 100 US cities
In 1969 James Earl Ray, an escaped white convict, plead guilty to the murder of King and was sentenced to 99 years in prison

16. Martin Luther King Day
Ronald Reagan signed the Martin Luther King Day into law in 1983, and it was first observed in At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.