Ashley+B.

= = =**May 10, 2010 - Preliminary research**=

Please post the following items: //__Rough Draft__//

** Ashley C. Bailey ** **May 26, 2010** ** 2nd Period ** ** H.U.S.H ** **// The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. //** **Memphis****, Tennessee, when he was assassinated at the Loraine Motel. Just hours** **Washington****, it ended, leaving six people dead and as many as 350 injured. The**
 * Baptist minister and social activist who led the Civil Rights Movement, **
 * Martin Luther King Jr. was and will always be America’s hero. Born on January 15, **
 * 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, he was raised in a comfortable religious family where his **
 * father and grandfather were Baptist preachers. King accomplished a plethora of **
 * achievements throughout his life and he changed the world. His leadership and hard **
 * work during the Civil Rights Movement inspired so many people to follow his **
 * dream. His powerful speeches and encouraging words motivated others to live the **
 * dream. Unfortunately, his journey came to an end on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. in **
 * before his death, King said his final speech titled //I’ve Been To The Mountaintop.// He **
 * ended his speech saying “I may not get there with you, but I want you to know **
 * tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promise Land.” His legacy will live on **
 * forever. By focusing on the different effects that Martin Luther King’s assassination **
 * had on people of all races, the 125 that rioted the following week of his assassination, **
 * and the outcome of racial discrimination, it is illusive that the assassination of **
 * Martin Luther King Jr. was very thrilling and an extremely crucial time for a **
 * plethora of people around the world. **
 * The assassination of King had many different effects on people all over the **
 * world. There were several long term and even some immediate effects of this **
 * assassination. Once the news of his death was announced, many people went **
 * ludicrous. By nightfall of April 4, 100,000 African Americans were ready to blow up **
 * the entire country. These people were very fired up and were ready for war. **
 * According to Marcus Brooks, “The killing was the last straw. Medgar Evans was **
 * shot down in 1963. President John F. Kennedy was shot down that same year. **
 * Malcolm X died in 1965. And now, Dr. King was just gunned down.” Time moved **
 * very slowly for blacks after King was assassinated. A void was created in black **
 * leadership because of the assassination and his death also brought forth the Voting **
 * Rights Act in 1968. Everybody had their right to vote because of the Voting Rights **
 * Act. However, many negroes were not to happy about the assassination, so they **
 * showed their actions through violence. After his death, leadership in black **
 * communities suffered a little, but African Americans moved ahead slowly due to the **
 * contributions from a few that helped out. **
 * Immediately after the announcing of King’s assassination, over 100 cities **
 * rioted, including Chicago, Denver, and Baltimore. Many negroes protested while **
 * holding kerosene bottles stuffed with rags and matches. They all grabbed bricks, **
 * guns, and also knives as they engaged the police. Dr. King had always talked about **
 * non violence and how the peace needed to be increased, and at the same time, there **
 * were other Black Power groups. The Black Panthers and some of the followers of **
 * Malcolm X felt as if sometimes violence was necessary. For instance, in Chicago, **
 * violence had erupted, especially on the west side. Mayor Richard Daley came up **
 * with a curfew law enforcing that anyone under the age of 21 was not allowed to use **
 * guns or any inflammable material, and they even closed the streets to automobiles. **
 * There were over 125 fires, 11 black people were dead, and about 210 buildings were **
 * burned down. In the same way, Washington D.C.’s riots devastated their inner city **
 * economy. Many businesses were closed, insure rates soared, and thousands of **
 * people lost their jobs. A plethora of neighborhoods were burned down causing so **
 * much damage to the community. There were more than 700 fires that occurred and **
 * it caused the nations capital to become worse. Within two days of rioting in **
 * struggle for black equality became more aggressive once the “black power” **
 * movement came along. **
 * Racism during the Civil Rights Movement was a very difficult time, **
 * especially for African Americans. King became the leader of the movement and **
 * during this time, blacks were not allowed to use public bathrooms and they could **
 * not sit at the front of busses. People were judged based upon their skin color and life **
 * just was not fair. To continue, during the civil rights period, acts of nonviolent **
 * protests produced crisis situations between government authorities and activists. **
 * Therefore, acts like The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Greensboro sit-in, and the Selma **
 * to Montgomery marches, were all based upon racial discrimination. King was **
 * involved in each of those acts because he wanted segregation to end. Although there **
 * were several protests during the movement, there were also many legislative **
 * achievements. In other words, phases like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting **
 * Rights Act of 1965 were chances for African Americans to re-enter politics in the **
 * south. Segregation before the assassination of King created so many conflicts **
 * between blacks and whites, especially in the south. King tried his very best to **
 * produce non violent marches and speak about how racism needed to end. “Non- **
 * violence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding and enables **
 * the man who wields it.” King once said that due to all the racism and discrimination **
 * that took place before he was assassinated. He also emphasized that he did not want **
 * the civil rights movement to sink down to the level of the racists and hateful people **
 * that they fought against. Nowadays, racism is still being held in some places even **
 * after King’s assassination. Although blacks can now use public washrooms and can **
 * sit wherever they please in busses, racial discrimination still goes on somehow. For **
 * example, the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, has been **
 * discriminated because he is the first black president. Many people of the opposite **
 * race are judging him in so many different ways just because he is not white. Even **
 * after King’s assassination, there have been many black on black crimes. Chicago **
 * has the highest rate of gun violence in the U.S. and the reason is because people **
 * nowadays do not really care. After all those speeches King made for the people, **
 * racism is still in the presence. Hopefully things will get better day by day. **
 * To sum it up, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. was such a **
 * horrifying event during the civil rights movement. King was best known for **
 * advocating nonviolent protest against segregation and racial discrimination and for **
 * leading the civil rights movement in the United States. He had been recognized for **
 * so many accomplishments in his lifetime and he made his family proud. His //I Have a// **
 * //Dream// speech was most popular and it influenced so many people. Grievously, on **
 * April 4, 1968, in Memphis Tennessee, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. He **
 * was shot in the back of his neck and was immediately rushed to the hospital. King **
 * died a couple hours later and once his death was announced to the world, people **
 * were highly upset. James Earl Ray was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 99 **
 * years in prison, he died while in prison in 1998. The day before King’s funeral, his **
 * wife Coretta Scott King and their three children led a march with 20,000 marchers **
 * throughout the streets of Memphis. They held up signs saying “Honor King: End **
 * Racism” and “Union Justice Now”. That next day, April 9, Coretta led 150,000 **
 * people in a funeral procession throughout the streets of Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. King **
 * will always be remembered because he was such a humble person and he influenced **
 * many people all over the nation. By focusing on the different effects that Martin **
 * Luther King’s assassination had on people of all races, the 125 cities that rioted the **
 * following week of his assassination, and the outcome of racial discrimination, it is **
 * illusive that the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. was very thrilling and an **
 * extremely crucial time for a plethora of people all around the world. Free at last, **
 * free at last, thank God Almighty, he is free at last. **

//__Outline__// I. Introduction: Thesis Statement: By focusing on the different effects that Martin Luther King's assassination had on people of all races, the 125 cities that rioted the following week of his assassination, and the outcome of racial discrimination, it is illusive that the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. was very thrilling and an extremely crucial time for a plethora of people around the world. II. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination had many different effects on people all over the world A.The immediate effects B. The long term effects III. The 125 cities that rioted the following week of his assassination A. The different cities that rioted B. The reason behind the riot C. The outcome of the riot IV. The outcome of racial discrimination after the assassination A. Racial discrimination before the assassination B. How blacks and whites began to communicate after the assassination C. The outcome of non-violence V. Conclusion

By focusing on the different effects that Martin Luther King's assassination had on people of all races, the 125 cities that rioted the following week of his assassination, and the outcome of racial discrimination, it is illusive that the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. was very thrilling and an extremely crucial time for a plethora of people around the world.
 * Working thesis statement**

Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination effected a plethora of African Americans, because of this incident segregation and racism slowly came to an end, and it made many people wake up and realize violence needed to stop.


 * Working bibliography:**

Brooks, Marcus. "The Long Term Effects of Martin Luther King Jr.s Assassination". <[]>. 2002

Ferrell, Marry. "The Martin Luther King Assassination". <[]>. 2000

Melanson, Philip H., __The Martin Luther King Assassination 1-6.__ New York, New York: 1989

Overbeck, Charles. "The Assassination Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: An Overview." <[]>. 1996

Ray James, __Who Killed Martin Luther King? The truth ny the alleged assassin. 89-102.__ New York, New York: 1992

Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination". <[]>. 1998

Walker, Ida, __The Assassination Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 60-90.__ Edina, Minnesota: 2008

Wheeler, Charles. "1968: Martin Luther King shot dead." <[]>. June 9, 2000

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