Martin Luther King
...ycott following her steps and elected King president of the newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association. The boycott continued throughout 1956 and King gained national prominence in his role in the campaign. In December 1956 the United States Supreme Court declared Alabama’s segregation laws unconstitutional and Montgomery buses were desegregated. Seeking to build upon the success in Montgomery, King and other southern black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957. In 1959, King toured India and further developed his understanding of Gandhian nonviolent strategies. (Kennedy 320). Later that year, King resigned from Dexter and returned to Atlanta to become co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church with his father. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a brilliant free-speaking man he never stopped fighting for equal rights for his people and children. This made him a great leader. King supported many civil right movements including a wave of sit-in protests consisting of black college students, which led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). King supported the student movement and expressed an interest in creating a youth arm of the SCLC. Student activists admired King, but they were critical of his top down leadership style and were determined to maintain their autonomy. As an advisor, to SNCC, Ella Baker, who had previously served as associate director of SCLC, made clear to representatives from other civil rights organizations that SNCC was to remain a student-led organization. The 1961 “Freedom Rides” gained tensions between King and younger activists, as he faced criticism for his decision not to participate in the rides. Conflicts between SCLC and SNCC continued during the Albany Movement of 1961 and 1962. In the spring of 1963, King and SCLC lead large demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama, where local white police officials were known for their violent ways to integration. (Boorstin 791). Clashes between unarmed black protestors and police armed with dogs and fire hoses made newspaper headlines throughout the world. President Kennedy responded to the Birmingham protests by submitting broad civil rights legislation to Congress, which led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (McPherson 278). A large amount of protestors culminated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28th, 1963, in which more than 250,000 protestors gathered in Washington D.C. It was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that King then delivered his famous “I have a Dream” speech. King’s renown continued to grow as he becam...