One of Martin Luther King Jr.’s first major protests was the Montgomery bus boycott. In protest against the unfair treatment of black passengers on public buses, African Americans in the city refused to ride the buses for 382 days. King was arrested during the protests, and his house was even bombed. Eventually, it was ruled that black passengers had full rights tosit anywhere they wanted on buses. Despite the attacks he suffered, King still claimed that non-violence was the correct way to achieve the protesters’ goals.
One of King’s largest protests was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, where more than 200,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C. to call for equal rights. Here, King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In the speech, he imagined a future where people of all races would enjoy the same rights and live in harmony. The next year, the US Congresspassed the Civil Rights Act, which states that no one should be discriminated againstbased on their race, sex, or religion.
On April 4, 1968, King was shot and killed during a trip to Memphis to support a strike organized by black workers. To this day, he remains an inspiration for those who fight for the rights of minorities. In the US, the third Monday of January is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when people honor his memory and contributions.
