“Free at Last” were the words of a legendary man who would later inspire change across the world. Through his array of works, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. challenged the popular notion that African Americans had a lower status than "white men." His I Have a Dream speech is recognized around the world, not only as an inspiration to black people around the world, but also as a great example of non-violent civic activism. King's main goal was to achieve the equality that black people had been deprived of. He addressed issues of racial discrimination, segregation, and political and economic justice through public speeches across America. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man willing to challenge the status quo by dissociating himself from the unified beliefs of his generation. Through his rhetorical use of language, he was able to expose black people to the true meaning of the degrading behaviors they endured for many years. African Americans have been targets of racial discrimination, whether in the form of segregation or political or economic injustice. It was especially in the 1960s that King campaigned most intensively. Events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, in which the African American community boycotted all buses in the city of Montgomery due to segregation, helped catalyze his campaign. Figures such as Rosa Parks, who was involved in the bus boycott, helped create the face of this movement. Due to the segregation of black people from society, there is also unfair treatment on political and economic issues. People of color were not allowed to vote under the constitutional franchise. This made segregation much more prevalent across the United States as it affected African Americans to a large extent...... middle of paper ...... and with the demanding and powerful confidence coming from his voice, Martin Luther King declared that "there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro has obtained his rights of citizenship" (King). Many feel that his speech was able to "exercise a such a hold on people around the world and span generations” (Kakutani) Others believe that “Martin Luther King’s worldview negatively affects black people today,” as Ellis Washington stated in. A Critique of Dr. Martin Luther King. Washington asserts that the civil rights movement, led by King, “laid all the demands of black America (…) at the feet of white America” (Washington). of King that would have affected the black community today is that, rather than pushing the black community to assume roles that made them equal to white America, they instead demanded that equality be respected..