On January 15 1929, an African American boy was born in Atlanta Georgia. This young boy was truly remarkable, but nobody at that time could imagine that one day this boy will grow up to be an exceptional leader. Can you guess who this boy was? The little boy grew up to be the great Martin Luther King.

In olden times, in United States of America people were discriminated basis the color of their skin. In those times, people were either “Blacks” or  “Whites”. The “Blacks” were looked down upon by the “Whites” even if they were much more talented than them.

Martin was unable to understand why the other boys who were fairer than him would not play with him. His parents tried to keep  him away from all this, but they could not. This discrimination was everywhere.

Martin was exceptional in school. Even though, he started late in school, he performed better than everybody else in the class. In elementary school, his teacher taught the whole class to be proud of their “black” heritage and fight for their rights. However, she told them to do that in a dignified way and not by fighting or showing violence. This deeply affected Martin Luther King.

Once Martin was riding a bus with his teachers, he was made to stand to let some white people sit. This deeply disturbed him. He believed that God created everybody equal then why different people are treated differently.

When he was  around 20 years of age, he became immensely influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, the man who spearheaded the “Quit India” movement through non-cooperation and non-violence. Gandhiji requested his countrymen  to resist the Britishers peacefully. Martin thought that this method of non-cooperation could help end the unfair treatment blacks received in America.

On December 1, 1955, a shocking event triggered a nation wide revolt in America against the segregation. A black lady – Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus for which she was unfairly arrested. The blacks were outraged. They refused to use the bus. Instead, they rode bicycles, walked, and used personal cars to get from one place to another. Dr. King led the blacks of the country in these difficult times. Finally, in December of 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was unlawful.

After their first victory, they went on to demand equal civil rights for all irrespective of their skin color.

On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King and other leaders led a peace march into Washington D.C. Over 200,000 people participated in the march. The march started from the Washington Monument and ended at Lincoln Memorial. This was particularly significant because Abraham Lincoln had abolished slavery in America almost 100 years ago.

It was here Dr. King delivered his most famous “I Have a Dream” message.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He donated all the prize money to the civil rights groups which were working to get the blacks their rights.

Sadly in 1968, someone assassinated him but the revolution that he started changed America totally.

Now all humans are equal as God intended them to be.