Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Human Rights Campaign
In 1955, King led nearly 50,000 blacks in a massive boycott of buses, forcing the government to eliminate segregated seating on transportation. 1957, King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He campaigned for justice and peace.
In 1963, in an effort to focus world attention on the issue of segregation in the United States, King, along with other civil rights leaders, organized the historic "March on Washington, D.C.," a campaign to demand jobs and freedom. It was during this struggle that King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. This struggle resulted in Congress passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which authorized the federal government to desegregate public accommodations and outlaw racial discrimination in public facilities and employment. This earned him the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize.