6 Memorable Photos of MLK and the Civil Rights Movement
Pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
In 1954, Martin Luther King, Jr. became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.
His plan was simple: raise his family with his wife, Coretta Scott King, complete his PhD dissertation, and later, teach theological studies.
However, within a year of becoming pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, local leaders of the NAACP would encourage King to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955
Just one year after King became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat on a segregated public bus.
Like so many women before her, Parks changed history with one single action: she refused to be mistreated. When Parks summoned the courage to act, King was chosen to lead the 381 day bus boycott that culminated in integrated buses.
King once called Rosa Parks, "the great fuse that led to the modern stride toward freedom" but her actions also catapulted King into the national spotlight.
MLK with Members of SNCC, 1960
In the early months of 1960, Ella Baker was serving as the director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Realizing that young adults needed to be connected to the Civil Rights Movement but might find tactics by older leaders as too pacifying, Baker inspired a group of college students to establish the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Members of SNCC were encouraged to organize sit-ins at lunch counters and form voting registration drives all while using King’s philosophy of nonviolence as a political strategy.
Speakers at the March on Washington, 1963
In 1963, KIng, along with Civil Rights leaders such as A. Philip Randolph and John Lewis bought more than 300,000 people to the Lincoln Memorial.
At the steps of Abraham Lincoln's statue, King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
Just a few months after the March on Washington, four little girls were killed in a Birmingham church.
One of King's most famous quotes, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws" was written in the Letter to Birmingham Jail.
Throughout King's career as a civil rights leader, he was arrested several times for civil disobedience.
A few of his arrests include:
In 1960, King was arrested in Atlanta while waiting to be served at a restaurant.
Two years later, at the Albany, Ga. movement, King was arrested.
In April of 1963, just months before the March on Washington, King and Ralph Abernathy were arrested by Police Commissioner Eugene Conner for protesting without a permit.
In 1965, King was arrested in Selma during a voting rights demonstration.
Throughout King's career, he was arrested more than 30 times.
In 1965, King along with the SCLC spearheaded a voting-rights march. The group marched from Selma to Montgomery. Along the way, participants including King were beat and tear gassed by law enforcement. Nevertheless, the marchers reached the state capitol in Montgomery where King held the rally.
In months following the march, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, banning literarcy tests and other restrictions that historically prevented African-Americans from voting.
In 1954, Martin Luther King, Jr. became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.
His plan was simple: raise his family with his wife, Coretta Scott King, complete his PhD dissertation, and later, teach theological studies.
However, within a year of becoming pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, local leaders of the NAACP would encourage King to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955
Just one year after King became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat on a segregated public bus.
Like so many women before her, Parks changed history with one single action: she refused to be mistreated. When Parks summoned the courage to act, King was chosen to lead the 381 day bus boycott that culminated in integrated buses.
King once called Rosa Parks, "the great fuse that led to the modern stride toward freedom" but her actions also catapulted King into the national spotlight.
MLK with Members of SNCC, 1960
In the early months of 1960, Ella Baker was serving as the director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Realizing that young adults needed to be connected to the Civil Rights Movement but might find tactics by older leaders as too pacifying, Baker inspired a group of college students to establish the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Members of SNCC were encouraged to organize sit-ins at lunch counters and form voting registration drives all while using King’s philosophy of nonviolence as a political strategy.
Speakers at the March on Washington, 1963
In 1963, KIng, along with Civil Rights leaders such as A. Philip Randolph and John Lewis bought more than 300,000 people to the Lincoln Memorial.
At the steps of Abraham Lincoln's statue, King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
Just a few months after the March on Washington, four little girls were killed in a Birmingham church.
One of King's most famous quotes, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws" was written in the Letter to Birmingham Jail.
Throughout King's career as a civil rights leader, he was arrested several times for civil disobedience.
A few of his arrests include:
In 1960, King was arrested in Atlanta while waiting to be served at a restaurant.
Two years later, at the Albany, Ga. movement, King was arrested.
In April of 1963, just months before the March on Washington, King and Ralph Abernathy were arrested by Police Commissioner Eugene Conner for protesting without a permit.
In 1965, King was arrested in Selma during a voting rights demonstration.
Throughout King's career, he was arrested more than 30 times.
In 1965, King along with the SCLC spearheaded a voting-rights march. The group marched from Selma to Montgomery. Along the way, participants including King were beat and tear gassed by law enforcement. Nevertheless, the marchers reached the state capitol in Montgomery where King held the rally.
In months following the march, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, banning literarcy tests and other restrictions that historically prevented African-Americans from voting.
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