He went to school and college and later to university where he studied theology and he became a Baptist minister in 1948 at the age of 19. He continued his studies and gained a Dr of philosophy and later completed a degree in theology at Boston University in 1955.
His first well-known effort to support the civil rights movement was to support the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955.

This was a protest against the city buses that refused to let black people sit if white people boarded the bus and requested their seat or to sit at the front of the bus where the white people would generally sit. Eventually, the law was changed so that black people could sit anywhere on the bus. 
 

In 1957 he created a group of 60 ministers called the southern Christian leadership and as a group, they began to fight for peoples civil rights particularly around racism. He came to Memphis in 1968 to support a strike by the black sanitation workers who were protesting against terrible working conditions the strike went for 64 days and a large national media coverage but at the end, the workers won their demands for better conditions. 
Of course, Martin Luther King is most famous for his "I have a dream" speech made in 1963 in Washington DC   front of a crowd of over 200,000 people

 One of the major influences that he had was for non-violent protest. His philosophy was against violence and he stuck to this throughout his support of the civil rights movement.He did this by encouraging non-violent marches boycotts and protests and demonstrating the use of non-violence himself even when he was getting arrested.
He was arrested and put in jail many times while protesting peacefully for equal rights such as during the Montgomery bus protest, or in Birmingham protesting against segregation in schools where he was jailed because he was protesting without a permit.  Because of his non-violent protests throughout the civil rights movement, he was able to gain a lot of respect for the civil rights movement and so changes were able to be made which didn’t only benefit the black community but also the white community and helped everyone to live together in an equal way.

Some of the changes the civil rights movement brought about were the introduction or changes to legislation which included 

 These were designed to provide freedom and equality to everyone despite their colour or where they came from or their religious beliefs.

Martin Luther King Jr was a known civil rights leader. He had a strong influence on American society in the 1950-60s. Martin Luther King was one of the most important civil rights leaders in history. He is most famous for his ‘I had a dream’ speech where he talked about him having a dream about ending racism and for everyone to have equal rights. Martin Luther King Jr was sadly assassinated on the 4^th of April 1968.

However, Martin Luther King Jrs dream still lives on today and he is seen as a very inspirational person by many people. He was a leader during the time of the civil rights movement and even now all these years later he is still seen as a leader for people who continue to fight and stand up for equal rights amongst people of different nationalities colour and religious beliefs.

In 1983 a national holiday was declared by the then president Ronald Regan and in 1986 the first Martin Luther King day was celebrated.

While there have been many changes for the better towards racism and equal rights and more tolerance of people with different religious beliefs and cultures, racism hasn't completely disappeared. There are still many disadvantaged black people, such as in America they are still often targeted by police if they are driving a nice car it is often assumed they have stolen it. Also in America statistics show that black men are more likely to be shot when unarmed than white men.
There are still hate groups within America such as the Klu Klux Clan and there are still many hate crimes committed due to race issues.
Hate and racism are also found world wide in terrorist groups who perpetrate crimes against people of different cultures and religious beliefs.

one of the influences of Martin Luther King is the use of non-violent protests and to act without fear against these type of terrorists.This has influenced us even today where we are encouraged to still do the things we would normally do such as travel or go to big events. We should just show that while they are doing terrible things it will not change us to think or act like them. 

What I found most inspiring about Martin Luther King Jr was that he never lost his dream. Despite all of the barriers that were put up against him such as the numerous arrests, numerous days and even weeks spent in jail and physical assaults against him. His use of non-violent protest is also inspiring. His belief was that in protesting without violence he and the groups that he supported would gain more respect and ultimately have better outcomes for their cause. 
He showed good leadership skills in demonstrating his non-violent approach even when he was being arrested or having violent attacks against him. what I also admire is that he stood up for people who were disadvantsged and was able to make changes that would help them and other people in the future have a better life.

HISTORY.com. (2018). martin-luther-king-during-the-march-on-washington - Martin Luther King Jr. Pictures - Martin Luther King Jr. - HISTORY.com. [online] Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr/pictures/martin-luther-king-jr/martin-luther-king-during-the-march-on-washington [Accessed 13 Mar. 2018].

YourDictionary. (2018). Martin Luther King Jr. Timeline. [online] Available at: http://biography.yourdictionary.com/answers/timelines/martin-luther-king-jr-timeline.html [Accessed 12 Mar. 2018].