Martin Luther King Jr.: A Timeless Humanitarian, Leader, & Activist by Megan

Martin Luther King Jr.: A Timeless Humanitarian, Leader, & Activist by Megan - February 2016 Scholarship Essay

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Martin Luther King, Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16 1963. Even though the United States has taken great steps in civil rights issues there are still injustices happening today. Being free and equal is the cornerstone on what this great country was based upon. If there were a man known to preach civil rights through nonviolence, he would be considered one of the greatest figures from American history.
It would be a great honor to have dinner with Martin Luther King, Jr., the man who combated racial inequality through nonviolence. If it were not for Luther King Jr. there may still be people segregated from schools, buses, and restaurants. We would be living in a different world today if it were not for Luther King, Jr.
My discussion with Luther King, Jr. would be different from the situations and issues that were occurring when he was fighting for civil rights. I would ask him issues related to civil injustices still happening today, the wars occurring in middle east, and the poverty that we still have in the U.S.
Luther King, Jr. led many protests against social inequality throughout the U.S. In 1955, he led Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1962, he organized the Albany Movement. In 1963, he organized non-violent protests in Birmingham, Alabama and the March on Washington where he delivered his "I Have a Dream," speech. In 1965, he helped organize the Selma to Montgomery marches and then went to Chicago to protest against segregated housing. I would ask him his thoughts on the 1992 Rodney King incident, the 2014 Ferguson unrest, and the 2015 Baltimore protests. I would ask him what he would do to have these situations prevented or how he would have reacted to these events.
In 1967, Luther King, Jr. gave a speech speaking against the Vietnam War in his speech "Beyond Vietnam". Luther King, Jr., condemned the war as anti-democratic, impractical, and unjust. He described the daily suffering of Vietnamese peasants caught in the crossfire. He was always a non-violent activist. I would ask him his current thoughts on the wars and terrorism Afghanistan and Iraq. I also would ask him about his thoughts on terrorism with ISIS, the Taliban, and terrorism in Syria and Libya. I would ask him what he would do to have these situations prevented or how he would have reacted to these events.
In 1967, during his "Beyond Vietnam" speech he spoke about the human and economic burdens being placed on America's poor. In 1968, before his assignation he was organizing the "Poor People's Campaign". I would ask him what his thoughts were on the current poverty status of the U.S. and in other countries. I would ask him what he thought we could do to end the poverty.
I lastly would thank Luther King, Jr. for making this country great and helping America with ending social injustices. Luther King, Jr. is a great American figure.