Alina “Epicness” Dougan

Sissy Entrekin

American History

01/04/2019

MLK vs The People

Two-hundred and fifty thousand people protested at Washington on August, 1963. The

March on Washington was one of the most influential things that happened in the U.S. It was a

non-violent protest that changed the situation of the African-American in the U.S. forever. But…

one of the greatest question is: Did all this happen because of some very few but very

outstanding leaders or was it because of the people and the grassroots organisations?

One of the leaders that most influenced the civil rights movement was Martin Luther

King. In his day, he was one of the most charismatic leaders of that time and he spoke to people's

hearts inspiring them to follow him in his beliefs. Even though his speech was the last one on

August, 1963, and it was basically the only one people remembered. “I have a dream,” is one of

the most quotable lines in history.

These great leaders were in charge of organizing the events and they promoted it. One of

the many causes of the civil rights movement was definitely, charismatic leaders they gave

people courage to stand up for what they believed in,… but was it the main cause? Were the

people the reason why all of that was possible?

The sheer size of the population for the March on Washington couldn’t have been just

because of the leaders alone. Many of these people already had a big motivation to go. They

wanted to be treated fairly. They had suffered enough. Furthermore, if I had lived like them I

would have certainly gone on the March of Washington. Does not everyone deserves equal
rights? Not only does the March on Washington serve as an example but the uprisings that went

down all over the U.S. in 1978. Everyone, as a people, rallied together.

Eventually, what really rallied the people together, was the people itself. Even Martin

Luther King was working with a grassroots organization. History will show that many years

previously there had already been many uprisings, before MLK showed up. People coming

together in one belief can make a lot more things happen than just one person.