In 1957, Dr. King was elected as the Conference (SCLC), an organization designed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. 

In 1963, he led a coalition of numerous civil rights groups in a non-violent campaign aimed at Birmingham, Alabama, which at the time was described as the “most segregated city in America.” It was during this campaign that Dr. King drafted the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the manifesto of Dr. King’s philosophy and tactics, which is a required- reading material in universities worldwide. 

Later in 1963, Dr. King was one of the driving forces behind the March for Jobs and Freedom, more commonly known as the “March on Washington,” which drew over a quarter-million people to the national mall. It was at this March that Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which cemented his status as a social change leader and helped inspire the nation to act on civil rights. Dr. King was later named as Time magazine’s “Man of the Year”. 

Also in 1964, partly due to the March on Washington, Congress passed the landmark Civil Rights Act, essentially eliminating legalized racial segregation in the United States. The legislation made it illegal to discriminate against blacks or other minorities in hiring, public accommodations, education or transportation areas which at the time were still very segregated in many places. 

The next year, 1965, Congress went on to pass the Voting Rights Act, which was an equally-important set of laws that eliminated the remaining barriers to voting for African- Americans, who in some locales had been almost completely disenfranchised. This legislation resulted directly from the Selma to Montgomery, AL March for Voting Rights lead by Dr. King. 

Between 1965 and 1968, Dr. King shifted his focus towards economic justice- which he highlighted by leading several campaigns in Chicago, Illinois – and international peace – which he championed by speaking out strongly against the Vietnam War.