La Maria Ciega

Martin Luther King Jr.

English

Dr. Martin L. King

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of peace. But he led one of the biggest fights of his time. He led the fight for the rights of blacks.

Dr. King became a civil rights leader in a bus boycott. The boycott started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama.

Dr. King was the minister of the church there.

One day after work, Mrs. Rosa Parks got on a bus in Montgomery. She sat at the back of the bus. At that time, in some states, blacks had to sit in the back.

Some white people got on the bus after her. There was no place for them to sit. The bus driver told Mrs. Rosa Parks to give up her place. But she was tired. She did not get up. The bus driver asked her again. Then he got a police officer. The officer arrested her.

Blacks in the city were angry. Black ministers and other black leader met in Dr. King church. We’re tired of sitting in the back of the bus. One of them said. The others agreed. They planned a bus boycott. Blacks in Montgomery will stop riding in the city buses. They were able to find other ways to get to work. The buses were nearly empty. City stores were nearly empty. The buses and stores stayed empty. They did not get any money from black people.

This made the city leaders angry. They tried to stop the boycott by taking aways its leaders. Dr. King and other black ministers were arrested.

'' Sometimes you have to go to jail to fight for justice.''

After king left jail, someone bombed his home. His wife and their baby were at home when their home was bombed . But they were not hurt.

Blacks people were very angry that the house of Dr. King was bombed. Many blacks met at the Kings home. They came home to the Kings home with rocks and guns. The police were not able to make then go home.

Dr. King spoke to his people:

Take home your guns. He said. We must love white people. We are their brothers. We must not be violent, even if they are violent to us. We must act in peace and love, even if they do not. We can fight for justice in a non violent way.

The people listened and went home. They became part of the non violent fight for justice.

The bus boycott lasted a year. In the end. The blacks won. They won in court. . U.S. courts said that black people had the right to sit on any place on the bus.

People in other parts of the United States heard about the boycott. The fight for civil rights went on. Dr. King became its leader. He was 27 years old.

Next there were protests of eating places. In many states, blacks were not able to sit in eating places for white.

In many cities blacks had sit-ins to protest. Black people went to white eating places and sat at the tables and asked for lunch. Many blacks were arrested. Dr. King was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama.

From Birmingham Jail. Dr. King wrote a letter to the ministers of the white churches. He told why blacks need to protest. '' For years, I have heard the word wait. We have waited more than 340 years waiting for equal rights,'' he wrote. When a person sees injustice, must act to change it. Dr. King asked white church people to understand and help.

In every part of the country, people heard of what happened in Birmingham protest. It was in the newspapers and on radio and TV pictures showed police hitting black teenagers and even black children.But

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