Martin Luther King Jr.
Definition
A prominent leader of the American civil rights movement who advocated for nonviolent resistance against racial discrimination during the mid-20th century.
Analogy
Think about your school's student body president who leads by example and inspires others to make positive changes without resorting to fights or bullying. That's like Martin Luther King Jr., but on a much larger scale fighting for civil rights.
Related terms
Civil Rights Movement: A struggle by African Americans in the mid-20th century to achieve equal rights under the law.
Nonviolent Resistance/Protest: The practice of achieving goals through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation without using violence.
"I Have a Dream" Speech: A famous speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. advocating for harmony among all races.
"Martin Luther King Jr." appears in:
Study guides (2)
Practice Questions (14)
- What was the main goal of the nonviolent campaigns led by Martin Luther King Jr.?
- What was the main purpose of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail"?
- What did Martin Luther King Jr. hope to achieve through nonviolent protest?
- What were the four basic steps outlined by Martin Luther King Jr. in any nonviolent campaign?
- How would American society differ today if Martin Luther King Jr. had not led the Civil Rights Movement?
- What key ideological difference separated Martin Luther King Jr.'s approach to civil rights from Malcolm X's?
- What did Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech primarily urge for?
- Which of these marked a key difference between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.'s approach to civil rights?
- What key difference separates the Black Panther Party's approach to civil rights from that of Martin Luther King Jr.'s?
- How might the Civil Rights Movement have evolved differently if Martin Luther King Jr. hadn't advocated for nonviolent civil disobedience?
- What style of protest did Martin Luther King Jr. promote during the Civil Rights Movement?
- How did Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X's approaches to civil rights differ?
- What major shift might've occurred if Martin Luther King Jr. had endorsed Malcolm X's philosophy of self-defense?
- How might the Civil Rights Movement evolve differently if Martin Luther King Jr. had not been assassinated?
Resources
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