Martin Luther King's dream

You may have heard the famous words 'I Have a Dream'. These words were uttered by a famous man whose birth anniversary fell this month and for whom a special day has been dedicated in his native land, the United States of America.

This is none other than the great civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a leader of the American civil rights movement and fought for the rights of the black people in the country.

Then, racial segregation (separation based on race, religion, gender etc.) was strong in most parts of the world including the USA, and black people couldn't sit together in public transport, study in the same schools or work, with white people. Blacks faced severe discrimination due to their skin colour and were barred from taking part in many activities. King's battle was against this prevalent system.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the son of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. His name was mistakenly recorded as 'Michael King' on his birth certificate, and was later changed to 'Martin'. He had an older sister and a younger brother.

Martin entered Morehouse College at age 15 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 1948. Then he enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951.

He began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and received his Doctor of Philosophy on June 5, 1955. In Boston, he met and married Coretta Scott, and had two sons and two daughters. In 1953, at the age of 24, King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

He became involved in civil rights in 1955, leading the protests that followed the arrest of Rosa Parks, who had refused to give up her seat in a bus to a white man, as was the law then. The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted for 381 days, with King being arrested and his house being bombed. However, it ended with a Supreme Court decision outlawing racial segregation on all public transport.

King was instrumental in the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, and was committed towards following the non-violent policies advocated by Mahatma Gandhi.

King organised and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labour rights and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the United States law with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Between 1957 and 1968, King travelled over six million miles, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action. He spoke over 2,000 times including his most famous 'I Have a Dream' speech, which was delivered to a peaceful march of over 250,000 people in Washington in 1963; this speech established him as one of the greatest orators ever in the USA.

This march for 'jobs and freedom' was organised by the 'Big Six' civil rights organisations, which included the SCLC represented by King. He also wrote five books and numerous articles. He was arrested more than 20 times and assaulted at least four times.

From 1965, King also began to speak strongly about the United States' role in the Vietnam War. This earned him the wrath of most Americans who had been supporting him till then. Toward the end of his life, King more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice.

At the age of 35, King was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize which was awarded to him for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would use the prize money towards the improvement of the civil rights movement.

In 1965, the American Jewish Committee presented King with the American Liberties Medallion for his "exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty". He was also awarded 20 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities in the United States and several foreign countries.

King was assassinated (killed) on April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city.

Later, an escaped prisoner, James Earl Ray was charged with King's murder and sentenced to a 99-year prison term, despite protesting his innocence and hinting that others were involved. Many doubts have been raised as to whether Ray was really guilty as charged.

King was posthumously (presented after a person's death) awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 and a Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.

He emerged the second most admired person in the 20th century according to a Gallup poll, and was voted sixth in the Person of the Century poll by TIME. He was elected the third Greatest American of all time by the American public in a contest conducted by the Discovery Channel and AOL.

Martin Luther King Day was established as a national holiday in USA in 1986 and was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, around the time of King's birthday.