Martin Luther King Jr.

King was born in January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a preacher. He would be first known as Michael King Junior, but changed his name to Martin Luther King Junior in honor of the Protestant preacher. Today, more than four decades after his untimely demise, the legacy and sacrifices of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s fight for freedom, equality, justice, and opportunity are being celebrated more than ever before. As a testament to his contributions as a leader, visionary and hero, on Oct. 16, 2011, we witnessed the inauguration of the 30-foot-tall "Stone of Hope" statue of the American civil rights pioneer. The memorial is the first on the National Mall to honor an African-American and the first to honor a person who did not serve as president.

Much of my admiration is based on his perseverance, and continually having the courage to focus on excellence and commitment to lifelong learning. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left us with a multitude of words and lessons that we can apply to evolve into a leader. Dr. King was very courageous, and not in the sense of being fearless but to the fact that he didn’t allow that fear to deter his mission. He was abused both mentally and physically, and not only did he take the punishment but he did not allow any of his followers to reply with force. This peaceful protest was more courageous than any fight that he could have fought, which in my opinion made his movement that much more astounding (Bert 2012).

His peaceful protest is also one of the things I find as a negative trait. Its my opinion that by being so passive things were ignored that should have been addressed therefore alienating a lot of his followers. There were many whose cries weren’t heard or acted upon because it didn’t coincide with his beliefs on the direction of his peaceful movement. This is particularly true if you want to be a leader of men. You simply cannot be passive. When there’s a problem between a couple of your team members, someone...