On August 28, 1963 American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I have a dream speech", in which he called for an end to racism in the United States. King is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using the tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs and inspired by the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. The greatest human rights activists of the twentieth century in this photo gallery by TASS.
The 20th century's greatest human rights activists
On August 28, 1963 American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I have a dream speech", in which he called for an end to racism
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Martin Luther King was one of the twentieth century’s best-known advocates for nonviolent social change. He got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for promoting legislation to protect the rights of African-Americans
© AP Photo On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King delivered his famous speech "I Have a Dream" in which he called for an end to racism in the US. Photo: People gathered at the Washington Monument grounds on August 28, 1963
© AP Photo Nelson Mandela for many years worked to abolish the apartheid policies of the ruling National Party in South Africa. Mandela was sentenced to life in prison
© EPA/KIM LUDBROOK Released in 1990, he continued his fight and became South Africa’s first black president in 1994
© AP Photo, file Mahatma Gandhi is one of the greatest political and spiritual leaders in history. Ganghi practised the principle of resistance to tyranny through mass nonviolent civil disobedience
© AP Photo/James A. Mills, File Gandhi not only fought for India's independence from Britain, he also led campaigns to ease poverty, expand women’s rights. Mahatma Gandhi was against the caste system
© AP Photo Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, advocated equal rights for women, African-Americans and Depression-era workers. In 1945, she formulated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as head of the UN Human Rights Commission
© AP Photo Mexican-American farmworker Cesar Chavez dedicated his life to winning recognition for the rights of agricultural workers. His accomplishments were recognized with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
© AP Photo, File Myanmar opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to promote democratic values
© EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING Thanks to the efforts of East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta, his country won its independence. He has spent most of his life fighting form human rights and freedom for his homeland
© AP Photo/Jerome Ming