Martin Luther King,Jr led several nonviolent protest movements “that historians credit” to the many laws passed to abolish segregation and establish equality between the races. Mohandas Gandhi also helped bring about change in his country-India- by leading nonviolent protest.
Mohandas Gandhi is a famous nationalist leader of India who fought for independence from Great Britain using only nonviolent methods such as civil disobedience and boycotts. Gandhi called his philosophy of nonviolence,Satyagraha.
Gandhi began his efforts in civil rights when he witnessed the oppression and denial of basic civil rights of the Indian people in Africa. Appalled by the degradation, Gandhi immediately began to try to peacefully bring about change in Africa while teaching his policy of civil disobedience. Gandhi’s campaign in Africa was successful in the fact that the Union of South Africa conceded to Gandhi’s appeals of the rights of the Indian people, such as “recognition of Indian marriages and abolition of the poll tax for Indians”. Once done in Africa, Gandhi traveled to India and began what is known as the Campaign for Home Rule in which he fought to remove British rule in India. At the time …show more content…
The march sought to address the unjust laws, abuse and discrimination blacks faced. The peaceful nature of the march left speculators in awe of the message being conveyed.Due to the notably contained and organized protest, the March on Washington is considered a major success.The success of the march lead the way to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. These acts prohibited discrimination, and the segregation of public facilities such as bathrooms,restaurants,schools,hotels and allowed African Americans the right to vote as well. Not long after this demonstration a civil rights headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed. King arrived in Birmingham and led what is known as the Birmingham Campaign. During his time in Birmingham, King led several “sit-ins”, marches, and boycotts, to protest the presence of unjust segregation in the community. Police responded with brutality. Protestors were met with the opening of fire hoses and the calling of police dogs on both men and women, sometimes children. These protests proved to be effective when it was agreed that “white only” and “black only” signs would be removed from public places and the slow process of desegregation in Birmingham took