Growing up in the South was not easy for Martin Luther King, Jr. He was born in 1929, when black people were treated very differently than white people. One day, Martin’s father took his young son to buy a pair of shoes. The store was empty. But the white shopkeeper told them that they would have to wait in the back of the store.
Martin’s father got very angry. Why did they have to sit in the back of the store? If he couldn’t buy shoes for his son in the front of the store, he would not buy them at all. He took Martin by the hand and led him out of the store. As they walked down the street, his father said, “I don’t care how long I have to live with this system, I will never accept it.”
The “system” in the South kept black people apart from white people. It was called segregation. Black children and white children went to separate schools. Black people had to ride at the back of the bus. As he grew up, Martin decided to fight for change. But it was a peaceful fight.
Martin led marches. He banded people together in protests. He made speeches. Many people listened to his words and joined his nonviolent fight. Martin Luther King, Jr., fought using his words, not his fists.
Martin Luther King, Jr., had a dream—a dream that all people could live together in peace and be treated equally. And though he died over forty years ago, his dream lives on. |