R.E

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. Martin Luther King Jr. used the examples of Jesus and his teachings on non-violence.

• 'Love your neighbour'
• 'Treat others as you would wish to be treated'
• 'Turn the other cheek'
• 'Blessed are the peacemakers'
• 'Those who live by the sword die by the sword'

In 1955 a black woman named Rosa Parks got on a bus and sat at the start of the 'black section'. A white man told her to move seats and she refused. This resulted in Rosa being arrested. Black ministers organised a protest. They all stopped using all buses. This later on resulted in the bus companies losing money so the gorernment agreed to let black people sit wherever they please. 

In August 1963, Martin led a march in Washington for 'jobs for freedom'. About a quarter of a million people attended the march [black and white]. Martin spoke to the crowd and said his famous 'I have a dream' speech. The march showed America that all black people and many white people now believed that everyone was equal whatever their race or colour. 'I have a dream that my little children will grow up and be judged on the content of their character and not the colour of their skin'.

Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi was a Hindu pacifist who led the Indian people to independence from Britain in 1947. He trained as a lawyer in Britain. He first worked in South Africa as a lawyer where he fought for equal rights for all Indians. He was a pacifist who used non-violent direct action to bring about equality. In order to get his message across he destroyed ID cards. Indians had to carry ID cards in India but the British didn't. The police reacted with violence and Gandhi didn't. In 1930,…