Complexities of Dr. Martin Luther King Essay -- Civil Rights

Martin Luther King, Jr.s impact on the civil rights movement was nothing short of monumental. To say anything less whitethorn be considered sacrilege in the history of the United States. Kings liberal and Christian upbringing, comfortable and educated childhood, and his theological education all contend a large part in his contributions to civil rights in America.Perhaps one of his most sustained acts was his ability to represent the plight of African American rights while simultaneously portraying a palatable character to White America. In addition to leading various civil disobedience campaigns, he served as the movements main strategist, theorist, and symbol maker while also becoming the movements chief interpreter to white Americans. Stewart Burns rattling goes so far as to suggest King, early on, realized his destiny was to be both a black Moses, delivering his brothers from the injustice of Jim Crow, as well as a Christ-like figure, offering equal measures of love, compa ssion, and forgiveness. This of course caused him to be disliked and criticized amongst some of the more nationalist and militant black leaders of the time, but inversely, allowed many Americans to feel with the movements main goals.Perhaps one of the best pieces of evidence showing Kings ideology is found in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail written in April of 1963. In it, King writes a response to other black civil rights leaders. He responds to the consensus that his current activities may be inexpedient and untimely. King rebukes this sentiment, outlining many important tenets of his belief structure, including the connection between all human beings, his non-violent civil disobedience strategies, his extremist love, and most import... ... bread, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration. University Of Chicago Press, 1991.Howard-Pitney, David. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s A Brief History with Documents. First ed. Bedford/St. Martins, 2004.Kennedy, Randall. Martin Luther Kings Constitution A Legal History of the capital of Alabama Bus Boycott. Yale Law Journal 98 (1989 1988) 999.King, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther. Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Martin Luther King Jr. Online, April 16, 1963. http//www.mlkonline.net/jail.html.Mikelson, Thomas J. S. Cosmic Companionship The Place of God in the incorrupt Reasoning of Martin Luther King, Jr. The Journal of Religious Ethics 18, no. 2 (October 1, 1990) 1-14.Sturm, Douglas. Martin Luther King, Jr., as Democratic Socialist. The Journal of Religious Ethics 18, no. 2 (October 1, 1990) 79-105.