Gandhi is probably the most well known non-violent protester of all times, followed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King's views on non-violence are all to clear in his I Have a Dream speech, where King said, "We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence." Another passage of the same speech said, "We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline," which shows that King didn't want his followers to lead undignified, violent protests (VanderMey). King knew that if the protests they led were violent then the police would just come and arrest the protesters and use violence against them, whereas if protesters used non-violence and then the police used violence the public would catch wind of the event and become interested or at least sympathetic. These non-violent protests were and are still effective due to the calm manner used in trying to talk situations out and come up with a conclusion.
             The first nonviolent protest that King led was the Montgomery bus boycott. This started with Rosa Parks' arrest. Most everyone knows of this event, but not all know that it lead to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s active role in protests for African American civil rights. With the success of the bus boycott, King realized the need for a way to unite all blacks for civil rights. He set out to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, or the SCLC, which allowed blacks to gather and discuss issues as well as set up a base for King to speak in the south (Martin). Later, in 1960, King moved to Atlanta to preach at the same church as his father. This place allowed King to dedicate more time to the civil rights movement and to the SCLC. Another protest of importance is the one for desegregation of lunch counters. College students asked King to support them, and them the police arrested King as well as others. From jail in Birmingham, King wrote a let...