Martin Luther King, Jr - Essay Example

Martin Luther King in his autobiography is completely concerned about the issue of racial discrimination and injustice in the of race and colour. He takes up the issue of liberty, equality and justice, three truths that have the utmost currency even in the present times. The blacks in America were promised their rights in the name of “Emancipation Proclamation”, but according to Martin Luther King, they were not given any thing that they were promised. They still wallowed in ugly slums demean life and cruelty and discrimination.

So Luther King Jr. Organised a non-violent protest march which served to dramatise these ugly realities of America and emphasise the nature of true democracy. He delivers the historically famous speech: “I have a dream” and he says “black men as well as white men would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. This historical landmark highlighted the necessity of democracy that offered equal rights to all its citizens irrespective of their colour and race.

The non-violent movement fought for this equality. Furthermore, he says, “Now is the tine to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all God’s children. .all men are created equal”. So, the later part of the book starts so emphatically on the high note of equality and justice. It continues the same till 29th chapter. Racial inequality and brutality was commonplace. Notions about black were very common.

But, to remove these misconceptions was the primary motive of the movement. He says, “We must use every constructive means to amass economic and political power. This is the kind of legitimate power we need. We must work to build racial pride and refute the notion that black is evil and ugly. But this must come through a program, not merely through a slogan”. Martin Luther King Jr. finds gaining political and economic power is the best way to gain what they wanted. “Black Power” was coined and put into currency.

Civil rights was the motive. But, Martin Luther’s interpretation of the means to achieve Black Power was different from his contemporaries who considered militant ways. The negotiation was done so effectively that legal grounds are cited to justify the protest and March. The then Civil rights movement could have been one of the earliest instances of the voice of the voiceless, but it continues to this day in various forms, wherever prejudice or discrimination in the name of race, gender or colour happens.

The issue is as serious as it was then. The currency has not lost its value like the cheque that the blacks had to en-cash. Martin Luther King Jr. acted as the advocate for justice and equality. He was one of the influential speakers in the Civil Rights Movement and Demonstrations such as the 1963 March on Washington. He dreamt of a land where there is no poverty or discrimination where everyone lives under brotherhood and unity. This dream was more than just civil rights and transcended into human rights.

However, the currency of the issue is as valid as then. Civil Rights have taken various forms of voices for social rights of children, women, and other disadvantaged or minority or even the underprivileged groups of the society. America, as one of the greatest democracies of the world has taken its lead in the form of American Dream and Civil Rights Movement, but it has become a practice and reality that everyone has no other choice than to plead for their rights as in various forms of domination or oppression all groups in society suffer.