Martin Luther King Jr. was a prominent leader in the American Civil Rights Movement who fought for racial equality and desegregation through nonviolent protest. He organized many protests and campaigns, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech advocating for a future of racial justice. Though assassinated at age 39, King's message of nonviolence and pursuit of equal rights through love continues to inspire many today.

1. Martin Luther King Jr.
Darkness cannot drive
out darkness; only light
can do that. Hate cannot
drive out hate; only love
can do that.
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2. What do you know about him?

3. The Civil Rights Movement

4. Montgomery Bus Boycott
● Montgomery, Alabama 1955
● Buses were segregated
● Boycott began on December 1st
● Rosa Parks refused to give up
her seat to a white person
● Protest lasted until December
20, 1956
● Federal law against segregation
on buses

5. Desegregation of
Schools (1957)
Prior to this, there were separate
schools for black and white
children
Desegregation was met with
resistance, as shown

6. Martin Luther King Jr.
● Born in Atlanta in 1929
● Son of a pastor
● Went to Morehouse College
● Became a pastor like his father
● Fought for equal rights for all
people
● Participated in the Montgomery
Bus Boycott and other protests
● Organized protests, gave
speeches for equal rights MLK at the Speech

7. Non-Violence
Influenced by Mahatma
Ghandi’s “Civil Disobedience”
Though MLK and his
people were treated
like less than human,
he always chose non-
violence.
“I have decided to stick to love...Hate
is too great a burden to bear.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.,
A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writin

8. SNCC Lunch Counter Sit-ins and
Non-violence
● Student Nonviolent
Coordinating
Committee (SNCC)
● Both black and white
students
● Organized sit-ins
where they would not
leave lunch counters
● Occurred throughout
the 1950s

9. “I Have a Dream” Speech
On August 28, 1963 at a historic march in Washington DC for jobs, freedom, racial equality
and the end of discrimination, Martin Luther King delivered his “I have a dream” speech.

10. Assassination
● April 4, 1968
● Five years after the speech
● On the balcony of Lorraine
Motel in Memphis, Tennessee
● Assassin is unknown
● Possibly James Earl Ray

11. In Remembrance
● Martin Luther King Jr. Day is
celebrated the third Monday of
January
● Celebrated in January because
his birthday was in January
● Celebrated for the first time on
January 20, 1986
● First African American to be
granted a national holiday

12. Activity: I have a dream that...
Example: Men and women will be treated
equally throughout the world.