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The Montgomery action catapulted King to the centre stage of the civil rights movement and made him a hero in the black community.
In 1957, King got together black leaders and laid the foundation for the outfit now known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He became its president and was soon busy helping other marginalised communities organise their own protest movements.
But it was his trip to India in 1960 that added a new dimension -- non-violence -- to his protest philosophy. His philosophy was put to its severest test in 1963 in Birmingham, during a mass protest for fair hiring practices and the desegregation of department-store facilities.
Police used massive force against the protestors, who did not resort to violence despite the provocation. King was arrested, but could not be silenced. He wrote 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail' to keep the movement on the boil and counter many fellow clergymen who called the protest 'untimely and unwise'.