Martin Luther King
Leadership
Martin Luther King
(1929-68)
Leader of the civil rights movement in America, which ended racial segregation and
discrimination.
A Baptist minister in Birmingham, Alabama, he (pictured right) believed in non-violent
action and became a national hero, winning the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964.
Tragically assassinated in 1968.
For more detail see...
The March on
Washington in the History Highlights section.
Why was he a great leader?
1. Integrity
He was a good and honest man, who practised his ideals of freedom, love and justice.
He was no saint (his affairs, prompted by long absences from home, tortured him).
But his family always loved and respected him enormously for his love, forgiveness and total dedication to
racial equality.
“His spirit will never die”, his wife, Coretta (pictured right together in
1964), said after his death.
2. Communication
He was an inspirational speaker, who could communicate his message simply and powerfully,
appealing to the consciences of both blacks and whites.
2. Vision
Before a rally of 210,000 people in Washington in 1963, he famously said,
“I have a dream” of blacks
and whites living peacefully and lovingly together (pictured right).
4. Purpose
He was a devout Christian, who believed that a person must love and serve God and other people,
above anything else. So he totally believed in non-violent action and racial
equality.
5. Courage and determination
He faced enormous hatred from many whites in the south of America, which had a long
history of racial discrimination, cruelty and lynchings (murders) of blacks.
The lives of him and his family were constantly threatened until he was finally killed.
King (pictured right in 1964 with another civil rights leader, Malcolm X) endured:
- continuous death threats and obscenities.
But he never despaired and believed that everyone should have a “tough mind” as well as a
“tender heart”.
6. Humility
Just before he died, he said not to mention all his awards at his funeral but just to say,
“Martin Luther King tried to give his life serving others”.
7. Lifelong learner
He never stopped learning from other people and reading. He was particularly influenced by:
- Gandhi’s (pictured right)
policy of non- violent action.
8. Prepared to change
In 1967 he began fighting for better jobs, housing and education not only for blacks but also for poor whites as
well.
9. Support
He was helped by:
- his belief in God.
- other civil rights campaigners (particularly Ralph Abernathy, pictured right
above, and Andrew Young, pictured right
- support from his family and friends, particularly his wife, Coretta.
He was also greatly influenced by:
- his mother (who told him after experiencing racism as a boy, “You must never feel that you are less than
anybody else”)
- his father, also a Baptist minister (who taught him the importance of love and how it conquers
fear).
His parents are pictured right.
Key quotes on leadership
I have a dream.
A genuine leader is...a moulder of consensus.
Key quote on
America
Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.
We have guided missiles and misguided men.
Key quote on
ethics
The time is always right to do what’s right
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity
We shall have to repent in this generation not
merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good
people.
Key quote on love
Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.
Forgiveness is God’s command.
Key quotes on influencing
people
If a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live
The ultimate measure of a man is...where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Key quote on
success
A strong man must be a realist as well as an idealist.
Key quote on law and
justice
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Key quotes on
empowerment
Power... is the ability to achieve purpose.
Power at best is love implementing the demands of justice.
Key quotes on
society
A great nation is a compassionate nation
A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.
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