Leadership Style of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Movie Selma

Running head: FUNDAMENTAL OF LEADERSHIP
Fundamental of leadership
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes

1FUNDAMENTAL OF LEADERSHIP
Executive Summary
For the given assignment, the movie Selma (2014) has been chosen that is based upon the
leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. He was famous for his style of revolutionary leadership that
was used in the civil movement rights movements within USA. The purpose of the movement is
to ensure legal rights for the African-Americans, who were denied from all types of fundamental
rights that included even, lack of participation in general election. The study will highlight upon
the strengths of leadership and non-violence movement that was the basic characteristics style of
Martin Luther King Jr. The study will also focus upon the style of leadership that is being
applied within the movie. It will therefore possible to understand the importance of the
leadership role played by Martin Luther King in the context of the given situation.

2FUNDAMENTAL OF LEADERSHIP
The Selma Movie was one of the popular of 2014 that beautifully portrayed the historical
events related to the incident of Selma in the year 1965. The movement was held mostly under
the leadership and guidance of Martin Luther King. The movement was held as a March protest
along the 54-mile highway. The protest was mainly held in the form of Non-violence, as Luther
King got inspired mainly from the guidance style of Mahatma Gandhi.
The movie began on an inspiring note with Luther King accepting his Nobel Prize for
peace. Soon after, there was bombing scene, where four young girls of African–American family
died in the accident. There was also other scene, where Annie Lee Cooper, who was another
important face of the civil right movements, was seen to deny her attempt to register for vote in
the Selma district. The Selma district was the root of the civil movement that initiated the
movement.
The movie however did not portray the entire life history of Luther King as the main
focus area was his life style as one of the popular civil rights leader. The purpose of the
leadership movement was to get the voting rights for the black skinned people in the Selma
district. With the effective leadership style of Dr. King he has been able to inspire many young
people to join and become an active member of movement. The movie has also highlighted the
roles of many other leaders of the history of civil rights. With the help of the inspirational and
motivational style of speech that has been seen in the movie, the leadership style of Dr. King has
inspired many other people within the community to take the initiatives to join in the protest
march at Selma.
From this style of motivation, it can be said that most of the important factors and
characteristics of leadership of Dr. King is related to that of the inspirational leadership. One of