US Civil Rights movement: Martin Luther King Jr.: His life's defining moments

Dr. Martin Luther King: a shining light of the US Civil Rights Movement

Today is Martin Luther King day, which is a national holiday in the USA.

Dr. Martin Luther King, a Baptist Preacher, was not only a social activist but is also the widely respected Afro-American Leader  of the Afro-American Civil Rights movement.

King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

He was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968 by James Ear who was arrested on June 8, 1968, in London at Heathrow Airport, extradited to the United States, and charged with the crimem and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary.

Note EU-Digest: A great man, who had the right dream for America, which unfortunately is still a job in progress.

For a pictorial review click here: Martin Luther King Jr.: His life's defining moments