Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wins Nobel Peace Prize

Today marks the 55th day of an important and iconic moment in black history that occurred which help American-Americans to move closer to equal civil rights. So in Remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I celebrate one of his most iconic moments in black history. On October 14, 1964, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in America. At age 35, he was the youngest person ever to receive the award. He donated the prize money, value at $54,600, to the civil rights movement. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929, the son of Rev. Martin Luther King Sr., a Baptist Minister, and Mrs. Alberta Williams King, an educator. He received his doctorate degree in theology, and in December of 1955 organized the first major protect of the civil rights movement: a boycott of the bus system in Montgomery. Influenced by Mohandas Gandhi, he advocated nonviolent civil disobedience to racial segregation. Even though the peaceful protest he led throughout the south of America was met with violence, he and the protestors were persisted with their nonviolent movement. An iconic speaker, his statements appealed to many Christians and Americans from all walks of life and gained support from eh federal government and northern whites. In 1963, he led the March on Washington to deliver his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Moreover, in 1964 the civil rights movement accomplished the ratification of the 24th Amendment that abolished the poll tax and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits racial discrimination in employment, education, and racial segregation in public facilities. Standing up for what he believed in, he also criticized the U.S. involvement in Vietnam and turned his efforts to winning economic rights for poor Americans. On April 4 he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, by escaped white convict James Earl Ray.