In the early days of Kings life, he was first and foremost a minister and he wanted others to view him predominantly in this light. According to the start of his Political Activist career. King began taking a stand when he was elected the President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This organization was an African American Civil Rights organization that believed in the power of non-violent action for blacks. As King set out on this campaign he visited Birmingham Alabama, which was considered one of the most racially split states. As King states in Citizen King his mission was “if we can get a breakthrough in Birmingham and really break down the walls of segregation, it will demonstrate to the whole South, at least the hard core South, that it can no longer resist integration. And I think everybody will find them selves going along with it if we can get a breakthrough in Birmingham.”
Naturally, this seemed like a decent goal; unfortunately, Birmingham was not pleased, and arrested King over Easter, as his Wife mentions in the beginning of the documentary. After King’s arrest in Birmingham on Easter, it was clear for him that this was just the beginning of his activist career and he needed to take a stand for the injustice that had been concealed within states between whites and blacks, and make an effort to better the lives of his people globally, starting where it was most harsh.
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” as Martin Luther King, states in, Citizen King. One can simply imply that King is explaining, all the lives of individual’s in America are some how intertwined and simply have a domino effect on one another. Allowing the idea as quoted in his archival that; “injustice to one individual becomes a threat of justice to all.” King wanted to establish a more equally based future for the world. So with this objective in mind, Martin Luther King, began reaching out to the support of children and speaking at youth meetings for the SCLC non-violence campaign. He began preaching, and trying to spread his voice about the severity of conditions in Birmingham. His impact on teens at the time left an everlasting effect, according to Geneva Jones, “He took the fear out of everything, even though he was talking about doing serious things.” Martin Luther King’s ability to share such a profound visual of the brutality of Birmingham, and how instead of scaring kids, it inspired them to help take a stand against. Goes to show how his gift of ministering helped his goal of establishing equally based future by reaching out to the next generation first hand, and inspiring them to follow his foot steps in