Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an African American, Baptist minister, and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the American civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.

Martin Luther King Jr. sought to raise the public consciousness of racism, to end racial discrimination and segregation in the United States. While his goal was racial equality, King plotted out a series of smaller objectives that involved local grassroots campaigns for equal rights for African Americans.

Martin Luther King Jr. led the bus boycott in 1955 that was sparked by Rosa Parks. He helped form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 which was an organization that worked for civil rights. fought for and achieve mandatory equal voting rights in America for blacks and whites.

While others were advocating for freedom by “any means necessary,” including violence, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance, such as protests, grassroots organizing, and civil disobedience to achieve seemingly impossible goals.

It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement on August 6, 1965, and Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections.

Since the “right to vote” is not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution except in the above referenced amendments, and only in reference to the fact that the franchise cannot be denied or abridged based solely on the aforementioned qualifications, the “right to vote” is perhaps better understood, in layman’s terms.

A legal right is created by an ordinary law and can be taken away by changing the law. A fundamental right, on the other hand, is guaranteed by the Constitution and allows a citizen to move Supreme Court for its enforcement.