The Heroic Life of Martin Luther King Jr.Based on information in the British School Encyclopedia Martin Luther King Jr. was a historic figure in African-American history. He supported many things to end segregation. Martin Luther King was a hero of the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr., born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, was a civil rights activist in the 1950s until his death on April 4, 1968. He held numerous nonviolent protests against segregation. He gave famous speeches, wrote books and even won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. In 1953 he married Coretta Scott. Four children were born to them. King was part of many groups and organizations that addressed segregation. On December 1, 1955, the bus boycott began. An African-American woman named Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. Upon learning of the situation, King decided to lead a bus boycott. During the spring of 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama MLK was arrested and sent to prison; from there he wrote a letter that he called his “Philosophy of Nonviolence” (“Martin Luther King, Jr.”1). He was a hero because he changed segregation laws. He held many protests, gave speeches, and even wrote a book about segregation. Many African Americans didn't like the fact that they were treated differently because of the color of their skin, but no one actually stood up to try to make a difference. Many tried but soon gave up, but Martin Luther King never gave up. In 1968 he quoted “'Frankly I am tired of marching. I'm tired of going to prison. Living every day under the threat of death, every now and then I feel discouraged and feel that my work is in vain, but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.'...... middle of paper ..... .ts . Blacks and whites share the same school, the same restaurants, the same fountains and every other public place. If it weren't for people like Martin Luther King, life as we know it today wouldn't be the same. So, in conclusion, it is safe to say that Martin Luther King Jr. will go down in history as a true "hero". Works Cited "Civil Rights in the 1960s." Discovering multicultural America: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Academic OneFile. Network. May 16, 2014. "King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Academic OneFile. Network. May 16, 2014.“Martin Luther King, Jr..” Britannica School. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. April 30, 2014. "Martin Luther King, Jr." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition (2013): 1. Middle Search Plus. Network. May 1 2014.