Clergyman, civil rights leader. An extraordinary preacher and speaker, he led the struggle of Americans whose forebears had been slaves to overcome racial prejudice and injustice and win full civil rights. Throughout his career, he also forbade violence and insisted on a strategy of "passive resistance" modeled on Mohandas Gandhi's teachings. The high point of his career came with the passage of national Civil Rights legislation. An assassin finally cut short his life, which is now commemorated by a national holiday.