Selma, to the March on Washington.
During the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. captured the attention of the nation with his philosophy and commitment to the method of nonviolent resistance. According to Dr. King, nonviolence was the only solution that could cure society’s evils and create a just society. As King emerged as a leader in the civil rights movement, he put his beliefs into action and proved that nonviolence was an effective method to combat racial segregation.
Prior to becoming a civil rights leader, King entered a theological seminar in 1948 where he began to concentrate on discovering a solution to end social ills. He came to the conclusion that, while the power of love was a compelling force when applied to individual conflicts, it could not resolve social problems. He believed the philosophies of "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemies" applied only to conflicts between individuals and not racial groups or nations.
While at the seminar, King also read about Gandhi and his teachings. King was struck by the concept of satyagraha, which means truth-force or love-force. He realized that "the Christian doctrine of love operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence was one of the most potent weapons available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.” King,