Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy: From civil rights to anti-gun marches

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‍‍Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., a man who has come to embody the 1960s civil rights movement in the US and inspired generations with his “I Have A Dream” speech.

Even half a century later, his campaign for peaceful change and his belief in equality and freedom continues to inspire movements. His influence was seen most recently at the March for Our Lives rallies against gun violence in cities across the US on March 24.

So who was King? What was his impact on civil rights in the US and what is his legacy 50 years on?

MLK

Three words are most commonly used to describe Martin Luther King Jr.: civil rights icon.

A general view of the exterior of the Lorraine Motel, now part of the National Civil Rights Museum, on May 25, 2013 in Memphis, Tennessee. /VCG Photo

People on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel point in the direction of gunshots as American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. lies on the ground in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. /Time Life Pictures/Getty Images via VCG

A general view of the exterior of the Lorraine Motel, now part of the National Civil Rights Museum, on November 21, 2017 in Memphis, Tennessee. /VCG Photo

US civil rights leader Martin Luther King (C) waves to supporters on the Mall in Washington, DC, during the "March on Washington" on August 28, 1963. /VCG Photo

Martin Luther King III speaks in front of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on January 15, 2018 in Washington, DC. /VCG Photo

Martin Luther King, Jr. (C), his wife Corretta Scott King and John Lewis, (2d from L) lead an estimated 10,000 civil rights marchers on the last leg of the Selma-to-Montgomery march on March 25, 1965. /VCG Photo

US President Barack Obama (center L) participates in a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, March 7, 2015. /VCG Photo

A Baptist minister in Alabama at a time when segregation laws were in full swing in the South, he emerged as a leader of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s – standing out for his unwavering commitment to non-violence, even as peaceful demonstrations were met with force and others were calling for the use of “any means necessary” to achieve their goals.

Affectionately called Dr. King by his supporters – he had a PhD from Boston University and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, at age 35 – the youngest at the time to ever receive the award.

Originally from Georgia, he was actually born Michael Luther King in 1929, but his name was later changed to Martin.

October 31, 2008: Civil rights leader James Armstrong, 85, sits in the barber shop where he used to cut Martin Luther King Jr.'s hair, on in Birmingham, Alabama. /VCG Photo

King was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had come to support striking sanitation workers.

The alleged shooter, James Earl Ray, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty and died in prison in 1998. King's family later expressed doubts, however, that he was really behind the killing.

‘I have a dream’

An eloquent speaker, King led marches and addressed crowds around the country, speaking out for equality and human rights.

He was a key figure during the 1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott, which ended segregated seating on the city’s buses. Nine years later, he led the three-day Selma to Montgomery march to register black voters.

A bust of Martin Luther King Jr.in Selma, Alabama, December 17, 2017. /VCG Photo

But King is probably best remembered for his role in the 1963 March on Washington and his rousing speech on the Mall, where he told a crowd of some 250,000 people: “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.”

From 1957 to 1968, King “traveled over six million miles and spoke over 2,500 times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action,” the Nobel Prize website says of the civil rights leader.

“He was arrested upwards of 20 times...; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.”

The actions of King and his supporters helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, guaranteeing equal employment, voting and housing rights to all races.

September 27, 2016: Protesters march towards Tulsa City Hall during a peaceful protest in Tulsa, Oklahoma, US. /VCG Photo

Upon accepting his Nobel Prize in Oslo, King said: “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.”

50 years on

Although half a century has passed, King’s ideas have not been confined to the history books.

The Black Lives Matter protests against police violence, with their call for an end to discrimination, claimed inspiration from the civil rights movement, and won support from erstwhile allies of Dr. King.

On March 24, students leading the anti-gun March for Our Lives also said they were picking up where King and his supporters left off.

Observers said the rallies were the biggest student-led protests since the 1960s civil rights movement.

"Martin Luther King walked down these same streets as we are right now… We saw how that turned out. We're hoping we get the same results," one student from Parkland, Florida told CNN.

King’s own granddaughter joined the march in Washington, echoing her grandfather’s words. “I have a dream that enough is enough, and that this should be a gun-free world,” nine-year-old Yolanda Renee King told a cheering crowd.

"We're seeing a new generation of folks in this country who are resurrecting the notion of King's dream," Taylor Branch, author of "America in the King Years," told AFP news agency.

Protesters at the March for Our Lives rally to demand stricter gun control laws on Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Washington, DC ./VCG Photo

But while Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated every January and the US has even had a black president, those closest to him fear there could be some backsliding.

“The discourse… is not as civil as it needs to be," King’s son, Martin Luther King III, told the Associated Press recently.

"Fifty years later, we still have work to do because there are forces in America… that want to take us back to another time, to another place,” added US Representative and fellow civil rights leader John Lewis. “We have to say: 'we've come too far, we're not going back.'"

In honor of King, a series of commemorations – in the form of marches, symposiums and exhibits – are scheduled on Wednesday in cities with close ties to King, such as Memphis, Atlanta and Birmingham.

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