On the third Monday in January America celebrates Martin Luther King Day. This is quite a new public holiday in the United States: it started in 1983. Doctor Martin Luther King,Jr. was an important person in the American Civil Rights movement. He believed in non-violence. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia and became a Baptist minister. At that time there was segregation in the southern states of America. Black people could not use certain types of public transport and go to the same schools and churches as white people. Doctor King didn't agree with this and he protested in public. The police arrested him several times. On one occasion John F. Kennedy asked the police to free King.
In many southern towns and cities, black people sat at the back of the bus and white people at the front. In 1955 in Alabama, one lady, Rosa Parks, refused to give her seat to a white person. The police came and arrested her. Dr. King organized a boycott of the bus system in her village. No black person used a bus in Montgomery for 382 days. In the end the Supreme Court decided to stop segregation on public transport. After this victory Dr King was famous. Later he campaigned against segregations and inequality in other cities in the South. In 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama he organised another peaceful protest. He invited children and young adults to march with him.
The police commissioner ordered his policemen to attack them with dogs and water cannons. Televisions and newspapers all over the world showed these pictures of police brutality. In August 1963 he helped to organise the Civil Rights march on Washington,DC. On that day he gave his most famous speech:
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the
content of their character. I have a dream today".
More than 200,000 people listened to his speech. In 1964 America passed the Civil Rights Act. This changed the lives of African-American forever. In this year he won the Noble Prize Prize. On 4 April 1968 a man called James Earl Ray assassinated him in Memphis.
Every year Americans remember his work by celebrating this national holiday. All the schools close for the day. People try to help someone on this day. It is not a day for rest but a day to think about how we can help people.
In many southern towns and cities, black people sat at the back of the bus and white people at the front. In 1955 in Alabama, one lady, Rosa Parks, refused to give her seat to a white person. The police came and arrested her. Dr. King organized a boycott of the bus system in her village. No black person used a bus in Montgomery for 382 days. In the end the Supreme Court decided to stop segregation on public transport. After this victory Dr King was famous. Later he campaigned against segregations and inequality in other cities in the South. In 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama he organised another peaceful protest. He invited children and young adults to march with him.
The police commissioner ordered his policemen to attack them with dogs and water cannons. Televisions and newspapers all over the world showed these pictures of police brutality. In August 1963 he helped to organise the Civil Rights march on Washington,DC. On that day he gave his most famous speech:
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the
content of their character. I have a dream today".
More than 200,000 people listened to his speech. In 1964 America passed the Civil Rights Act. This changed the lives of African-American forever. In this year he won the Noble Prize Prize. On 4 April 1968 a man called James Earl Ray assassinated him in Memphis.
Every year Americans remember his work by celebrating this national holiday. All the schools close for the day. People try to help someone on this day. It is not a day for rest but a day to think about how we can help people.