(1929 – 1968) Martin Luther King, Jr. was the most charismatic and influential leader in the US civil rights struggle, 1954–68. His philosophy of non-violent direct action in resistance to unjust laws was founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi and refined through his own study of religion and philosophy at Morehouse College and Boston University A middle-class, educated son of a southern black Baptist minister, King was representative of the new generation of southern African Americans after the Second World War who refused to submit to continued white oppression in the South.

His beliefs in non-violence and the moral necessity for equality became the strategy of the entire movement.

King first emerged as a leader of the Movement in the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955–6. His primary base of operation was always the South. He was less successful in attempting to apply his beliefs and tactics to the problems of African American ghettos in the North. His philosophy galvanized white as well as black Americans, incorporating both in his vision of a “beloved community” in which there was justice for all. His beliefs, courage in the advocacy of them and his achievements in the face of violent resistance by Southern white authority brought him vilification from conservatives at home, but international acclaim abroad. While the FBI conducted investigations to discredit King, the international Nobel Committee presented King with its Peace Prize in 1964.

King’s crowning moment was his “I Have A Dream” speech at the March on Washington in August, 1963. His greatest victories were passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King’s opposition to injustice, however, was not confined by region, race or class. He reluctantly sacrificed much of his credibility among many black as well as white followers and much of his influence in national political circles by continuing to protest against poverty within the US and the unjust war in Southeast Asia during the 1960s. The official disfavor such actions brought from the highest levels of government and civil society made King more vulnerable to the forces of reaction. He was assassinated in April 1968 by a white gunman in Memphis, TN while participating in a garbage workers’ strike.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s articulation and advocacy of the ethical principles of his faith and the political ideals upon which the United States was founded inspired the nation. His murder for those same beliefs so shamed its people, black and white, that a majority coalesced to create a national holiday in his honor. In 1986 the federal government established January 15 as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the only national holiday to honor a non-office-holding US civilian. King’s legacy however, transcends such institutionalization. His moral philosophy and his advocacy of justice and equality for all people regardless of race, class or gender continue to inspire suffering peoples throughout the world.