Martin Luther King Jr.

             His words and actions inspired millions around the world. King's use of peace and nonviolence to counteract racism helped fuel the Civil Rights movement and set an example for leaders then and forever. He will forever be remembered around the world as a symbol for freedom and equality. King was born on 1929, into a family with deep roots in the Southern black ministry. King entered Morehouse College, Atlanta, at the age of 15 and received his B.A. in 1948. It was during his next three years spent at Crozer Theological Seminary, that King first became aquatinted with the Mohandas Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence. After Cozer, King attended Boston University and received his Ph.D. in 1955. King achieved national recognition as a leader of the 1955-1956 Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, which was organized to protest against the racial segregation of seating against African Americans. In 1957 King became founding president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which became one of the principal civil rights groups in the U.S. At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream," speech, one of the most significant expressions of the Civil Rights Movements and a symbol for peace and equality. In 1964 Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 4, 1968, while planning a national "Poor People's Campaign," King was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee.
             Martin Luther King's achievements have made him a great man, but it is his philosophy and wisdom that has changed the way we view each other and the world. He was a man who caused a nation and the world to wake up to its problems and told them to work together to fix it. It is not only his actions, but his words and wisdom that will forever guide us to work together towards brotherhood and equality. His effect was so profound on the world, that without him it may have become a different place entirely.