(Pinder, K & Hanson, E 2010 A Historical Perspective of Segregation, Amsterdam Law Reform) For decades, civil rights activists had been fighting these laws and social customs to secure equality for all Americans; however, these advances proved ineffective in dismantling the systemic racism that plagued America. It was in this environment that Martin Luther King was enabled to become one of the most powerful and influential leaders for nonviolent social change in the civil rights movement.
Martin Luther King provided a new perspective to the civil rights movement, drawing inspiration from both his faith as well as the non-violent teachings of Mahatma Ghandi. King led various nonviolent movements in the late 1950's and ˜60s to achieve economic, political and social equality amongst African-Americans in the United States. Whilst other leaders at the time, including Malcolm X, chose to implement extreme measures to advocate for freedom, such as violence, King embraced the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance. These methods included protests, marches, boycotts, and civil disobedience and proved most effective in achieving seemingly unattainable goals. (Lemke, S 2008, Methods of Martin Luther King, University of Berlin) King's methods of protest epitomized the most important aspects of the civil rights campaign, with an emphasis on equality between all races and the ability to abolish all aspects of segregation in order to live together in harmony. King's method inextricably intertwined a method of non- retaliation to abuse and the highlighting of unfair treatment of African Americans to create a system where African Americans were now viewed as the victim, thus allowing them to gain more national and international support than their white antagonists. .
Provoked by the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white man, the Montgomery bus boycott is an example of the methods of King put into practice.