heros journey Essay

Submitted By stephanie_isaac
Words: 756
Pages: 4

Martin Luther King Jr. a civil rights activist who once wrote a speech entitled “I have a Dream”. King went through many test and trials before this dream of his came officially came true. Kings went through what some people might call, a hero’s journey, he went through many ups and downs before his dream came to life.
On the day of December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for violating the laws of segregation known as “Jim Crow Laws”. This night she was arrested King was called to the beginning of his journey by E.D. Nixon, head of the local NAACP to plan a city-wide bus boycott. The NAACP assisted King through many of his trials. King leaves his wife and kids to go and travel the South and demolish segregation forever. He went to places where his life was in serious danger, but he did all of this to make sure that everyone has a fair chance in this world.
Martin faced many trials, he was threatened by many people who hated him for what he was trying to accomplish. On January 27th, 1957 King an unexploded bomb was found on the family’s front porch, September 20th, 1958 Martin was stabbed by a woman while at a book signing in a department store in Harlem, New York, October 19th, 1960 Dr. King is arrested for breaking the state of Georgia's trespassing law while picketing in Atlanta. April 12th, 1963 Dr. King is arrested at a Sit-in demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama protesting against public eating facilities, August 6th, 1966 Dr. King marches on the issue for open housing in Chicago and is stoned by angry onlookers, April 19th 1968 while standing on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee Dr. Martin
After all of Dr. Kings’ hard work he finally gets to deliver his speech on August 28, 1963. Dr. King delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. During his “I Have a Dream” speech King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred. By 1968, the years of demonstrations and confrontations were beginning to wear on Martin Luther King Jr. He had grown tired of marches, going to jail, and living under the constant threat of death. He was becoming discouraged at the slow progress civil rights in America and the increasing criticism from other African-American leaders. Plans were in the works for another march on Washington to revive his movement and bring attention to a widening range of issues. In the spring of 1968, a labor strike by Memphis sanitation workers drew King to one last crusade. On April 3, in what proved to be an prophetic speech, he told supporters, "I've seen the promised land. I may