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Dr Martin Luther King Jr A Celebration Of His LIfe Martin Luther King Jr. rose to national fame in December 1955 when he joined the efforts of The Montgomery Alabama Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks, a black women refused to give up her buss seat to a white man. Dr King joined the cause and organized marches and sit ins. It took almost a year for the boycott to end with success. A Supreme Court ruling declared the segregation laws Montgomery Alabama unconstitutional. The boycott was the catalysts that started the modern civil rights movement in the USA, and elevated Dr. King as the movements leader. Dr. King became a Baptist preacher following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He together with his wife Coretta Scott King reared four children. Dr King led the founding of The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SCLC is currently a national organization with affiliate chapters in almost every major US city. Dr. King's children are stil active in the SCLC. The SCLC promotes brotherhood and sisterhood, peace, and community and is open to people of all races, religions and backgrounds. The basic principals of the SCLC stem from Dr. Kings greatest ability to bring together all types of people to promote the cause of peace, brotherhood, and sisterhood. Dr. Kings life was filled with highs and lows. In 1964 he was the youngest recipient of The Nobel Peace Prize. He authored several books, and delivered hundreds of speeches all over the country. Non-violent civil disobedience is the primary tactic to overcome the enemy of oppression. Dr King was not the first to use these methods , he learned these principals from another famous man whom he admired greatly, Mahatma Gandi. Mohatma Gandi of India, developed the philosophy of Satyagraha. Satyagraha is the search of the truth. The three aspects are a) Satya - the truth, b) Ahimsa - physical and mental, non violence civil disobedience, non cooperation, c) Tapasya - self sacrifice . The goal is to acquire the cooperation of and opponent by changing a destructive relationship to a constructive relationship. this is accomplished by using a moral power (God) instead of a physical power (violence). Controversy enveloped the life of Dr. King. His practice of civil disobedience lead to several arrests. His status as the leader of the civil rights movement attracted the attention of president Kennedy who directed the FBI to start surveillance on him. Dr. King became so important to them he had his own FBI task force. Everywhere he went the FBI palace wire taps on his phones and bugged the rooms he was in. Eventually with no cause or evidence the FBI classified him a threat with ties to communism, and started a campaign of harassment with several unsuccessful attempts to discredit him. The FBI used several harassment methods such as sending him threatening letters and releasing false or sensitive information to the press. They also sent agents to meet with important people that Dr. King was supposed to meet with to try to spread lies about him. Dr Kings final mission before his brutal assassination was to aid the Memphis Tennessee Sanitation Workers (local 173) strike. He joined with the Sanitation Workers, the Memphis Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and several other local black power groups in a march through Memphis Tennessee. High tensions and other factors caused the march to become violent Dr King left the march and returned to his hotel. While violence ran through the streets police mace multiple arrests. A restraining order was issued banning Dr King from further marches in Memphis. On the evening of April 4, 1968 (while under surveillance by the Memphis Police Department) Dr. King was brutally gunned down while standing on the balcony of his hotel. The assassination investigation was conducted by the FBI. I believe that this was a poor choice of agencies because of the negative history between the FBI and Dr. King. In no way could the FBI be able to conduct an impartial investigation. I am also forced to ask myself with all to the harassment, rumor spreading and attempts to discredit Dr. King if the FBI had an influence on the assignation. James Earl Ray was arrested and charged with the murder of Dr King. James Ray confessed to the crime in open court and waved his rite to a trial, and was convicted. The lack of a trial, no witnesses testimony, no evidence review no court records leads me to wonder if James Ray acted alone or if he was part of a conspiracy. Today January 15, 2007 we celebrate Dr. King his life and legacy. Dr. King preacher of peace and equality, should best be remembered for his message of brotherhood and sisterhood "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
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