What can you infer about King's status as a civil rights leader from his description in the second paragraph of the first article? Three Newspaper Articles on a 1957 Martin Luther King Speech

Headline: King Discusses Negro's Status

Article 1 Title:
Explains Use of Non-Violence For Overcoming Oppression
by Matt Von Baeyer

Article 1 Text:
Dr. Martin Luther King, speaking on the topic "Justice without Violence," made the initial observation that it is impossible to view the current American scene without noting the serious crisis in race relations.
Dr. King is minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, and leader of the recent bus boycott in Montgomery.
Speaking yesterday afternoon in First Church, Dr. King went on to claim that the determined resistance of reactionary elements such as the white citizens' councils together with the radical change in the Negro's evaluation of his nature and destiny have helped to account for today's critical situation.