![]() King's leadership took place during the most tumultuous period in America's recent past. Despite attempts to suppress the movement, Montgomery buses were desegregated in December 1956, after the United States Supreme Court declared Alabama's segregation laws unconstitutional. As the boycott continued through 1956, King gained national prominence as a result of his exceptional oratorical skills and personal courage. For example, in December, 1955, days after Montgomery civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to obey the city's rules mandating segregation on buses, a bus boycott was launched and King was elected as president of the newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association. This was a time when large numbers of Americans, barely recognized as such by sanctioned power, dared to dream of what the country could be at its best, in the face of what often was its worst. Martin Luther King, more than any other figure, shaped American life from the mid-'50s to the late '60s. ![]() ![]() "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a clearly written essay that explains the reasons behind, and the methods of nonviolent civil disobedience, and gently expresses King's disappointment with those who are generally supportive of equal rights for African-Americans. ![]()
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