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Martin Luther King Jr was born on 15 Jan 1929, the son of a Baptist preacher.

Martin Luther King’s family were African American. He grew up at a time when the Southern States of America operated under the Jim Crow laws that kept Black and white people separate. This was called segregation.

Black people had different schools, toilets and even sections of the bus to white people. They were also denied the right to vote in elections.

His first significant role in the Civil Rights Movement came in 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus.

Her arrest led to a boycott of the bus service by the local black community. They asked King to lead the campaign.

King had been impressed by the tactics of Mahatma Gandhi who had used non-violent protest in India in the 1940s against British rule.

He outlined his vision of non-violence when speaking during the Montgomery Bus Boycott:

“In our protest there will be no cross burnings. No white person will be taken from his house by a hooded Negro mob and brutally murdered. There will be no threats or bullying.”

King thought that civil disobedience was necessary to increase civil rights. He believed that if a law was wrong then the citizens of the country had the right to protest that law.

The boycott proved successful. After 381 days of protest, a court finally ruled that such segregation laws should no longer be recognised.

Also known as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the main purpose was to gain publicity for the new civil rights bill.

On August 28, 1963, 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Martin Luther King made his famous I have a dream speech to a worldwide audience.

It has become one of the most famous speeches in history. It focuses on the dream of a society where black people and white people live together in harmony.

In 1964 The Civil Rights Act was passed US President Lyndon B. Johnson.

This saw an end to segregation in public places and a ban on employment discrimination.

The voting act that followed allowed black people to exercise their legal right to vote.

On 4 April1968 Martin Luther King was in Memphis, Tennessee.

As he stood on his hotel room balcony, he was shot dead by a white gunman.

He is remembered for his tireless work during the Civil Rights Movement and his dream that one day everyone would be treated as equals.

A statue built in his memory was erected in Washington DC and each year the third Monday in January is celebrated as Martin Luther King Jr Day.