 "The Mysteries of Life
with Tim and Moby"
--Beep?
Yep, that’s where he gave his biggest
speech.
 "Dear Tim and Moby,
Can you do a Martin Luther King movie?
Thanks, Amari"
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. was one of the most important
leaders of the American Civil Rights
Movement.
--Beep?
That was the effort to extend equal
rights to all people,
regardless of race.
--Beep?
Well, in the first half of the 20th
century, that was a controversial idea.
In many parts of the country,
African Americans were barred from
participating in ordinary life.
They couldn’t eat at the same lunch
table, go to the same schools,
or even use the same bathrooms as white
people.
This practice of separating African
Americans from white people
was called segregation.
In the South, segregation was enforced
through Jim Crow laws.
They made it illegal for African
Americans to mix with whites.
They policed black behavior, too.
African Americans had to live in
separate neighborhoods,
hold specific jobs, and talk to whites
with the utmost respect.
Try to fight it, and you risked jail
time, injury, even death.
--Beep?
There were no Jim Crow laws up North,
but unspoken rules still kept African
Americans apart.
In many places, white homeowners would
only sell their houses
to other white people.
These informal codes ensured that
African Americans remained
second-class citizens.
--Beep?
Martin Luther King grew up in the midst
of all that inequality.
He was born in 1929 to a middle-class
family in Atlanta, Georgia.
Both his grandfather and his father
were pastors at a local church.
King attended religious colleges up
North,
in Philadelphia and Boston.
He noticed black and white people
mixing more freely than he'd seen
growing up.
Though these cities had their share of
racial tension,
they were a far cry from the way things
were down South.
--Beep?
Dr. King moved to Montgomery, Alabama
with his wife, Coretta, in 1953.
He became a pastor and community leader.
Around that time, a local woman named
Rosa Parks
was arrested for refusing to give her
bus seat to a white man.
King joined forces with activist Jo Ann
Robinson
to organize a massive boycott of the
Montgomery Bus System.
Most black citizens of Montgomery
refused to ride the buses
for over a year.
Many were violently attacked, just for
walking instead of taking a bus!
Dr. King's house was bombed,
and along with dozens of other
protesters, he was thrown in jail.
But these injustices drew national
attention to the issue.
And in 1956, a Supreme Court decision
banned segregated buses.
After that victory,
King helped organize a group of churches
dedicated to nonviolent protests for
civil rights.
--Beep?
He was inspired by the life of Mahatma
Gandhi,
whose nonviolent leadership helped free
India from British rule.
Over the next decade, King led protests
and marches
all over the country.
The biggest was The March on Washington
for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
Hundreds of thousands of people
gathered in the nation’s capital
to support Civil Rights.
It was there that Dr. King delivered
his momentous
“I Have a Dream” speech.
"One day right there in Alabama,
little black boys and black girls will
be able to join hands
with little white boys and white girls
as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!"
--Beep.
Yeah, kinda gives you goose bumps,
doesn't it?
King’s gift for public speaking helped
inspire millions of people.
His words gave them the hope and
courage to believe
in the future he envisioned.
Two years later, the protests he led
throughout Alabama
caught the world's attention.
People watched in shock as local police
turned firehoses
and attack dogs on peaceful protesters.
--Beep?
Well, people often feel threatened by
change.
In fact, making folks uncomfortable was
kind of the point of all this protest.
In a letter written from an Alabama
jail, King said,
"Nonviolent direct action seeks to
create such a crisis
and establish such creative tension
that a community
that has constantly refused to negotiate
is forced to confront the issue."
In other words, things change
only when conditions are made so
stressful, people demand it.
--Beep?
Oh yeah, King was arrested lots of
times during these marches —
but the result was worth it:
His work pressured Congress to pass
groundbreaking laws
moving society closer to his vision.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965
overturned segregation laws around the
country.
In 1964, he was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize.
He went on to fight against poverty and
the Vietnam War.
Then, in 1968,
Martin Luther King was assassinated in
Memphis, Tennessee.

His killer, James Earl Ray, was
captured months later.
King was only 39 years old.
But in his short life, he'd changed the
face of this country.
Without his influence, who knows how
long it would have been
before equal rights were protected for
everyone.
--Beep.
Yeah, you’re right.
We still struggle with racial equality
to this day.
But thanks to Dr. King and other Civil
Rights leaders,
we know that great change is possible.
--Beep.
"I have a dream today!"
