From marches and freedom rides to boycotts and sit-ins, King’s active engagement of the youth was a major component of the Civil Rights Movement. His desire for equality was shared by African Americans of all ages, but some say his dream would have remained just that had it not been for youth activism.

Similarly, studies show that Obama’s victory was dependent upon the youth voter turnout. Young Americans ages 18 to 29 cast 1.8 million more votes in the 2008 election than in 2004, a nine percent increase, with 66 percent of all youth favoring Obama. Also, the African-American youth vote increased 21 percent in 2008 with nearly three million more ballots cast than in 2004. Forty years after his death, scholars say King’s ability to mobilize younger generations is reflected in Obama.

“King was extraordinarily gifted as an orator, which means that he was aware of both the place where he stood in terms of the time in which he existed,” said Molefi Kete Asante, author of more than 65 books on the Black experience and professor of African American Studies at Temple University. “It was his historical sense that gave him oratorical depth. You must know where you are, what your time is in relationship to other times, and therefore you can call upon other experiences to inspire that. King also had a commanding presence. You never saw him in any way where he affirmed a sense of inferiority, only a sense to lead. He was never one to step away from an encounter. We see this in Obama.”

Obama’s campaign had a substantial youth support system because it shared King’s “universal message” of progress, said Thaddeus Mathis, Temple University’s co-director of the Center for African American Research and Public Policy. Calling both men “great intellectuals,” he feels their values and morality played a key role in attracting youth support.

“Both men made a point of going after the youth population,” Mathis said. “They both appealed to the college-educated community. All movements tend to go after the young, precisely because you’re looking for those populations that are more open to change. [Obama’s] change theme, in general, always resonates with the young because they’re least committed to the status quo. That was also a big part of King’s message.”

Perhaps impacting the youth more than Obama’s platform was his style and swagger, giving him an “idol quality” that intrigued the youth, said Marc Lamont Hill, assistant professor of urban education and American studies at Temple University. Adding to his cool points was the president’s interactive website and campaign updates sent through emails and text messages. Even though King did not have access to today’s technology, Hill notes that King was young, himself, during the height of the Civil Right Movement and shared the age range of many of his followers. Therefore, his connection to the youth wasn’t a far stretch.

“That’s what’s powerful about it,” Hill said. “Dr. King wasn’t just someone who organized young people; he was a young person. He left Morehouse and Boston College and hit the ground running. He was young enough to bring young people to the movement. King understood that [young people] still have grand ideals. They haven’t become cynical, lost that passion, lost their desire for justice and democracy. They’re still willing to fight.”

Comparing America today to the civil rights era, Asante finds society’s current concerns subtler than in the past and says young people must now find their own issues to fight for. But in Obama, he says the youth have discovered a passion for moral justice.

“Young people have always been the catalyst for changing the moral direction of nations as far back as the ancient civilization of Egypt,” Asante said. “The clash between tradition and innovation is a what generates new ideas. The difference in the Obama situation is the change has been one in which the generation itself has brought forth an innovation.”

By showing up at the polls in record-setting numbers, Hill believes Obama’s victory represents more than many Americans’ hope for a better America. Calling Obama the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement, today’s inauguration of the first African American president of the United States symbolizes the youth keeping King’s dream alive, he said.

“History proves that any social movement has to begin with the people who are the most vulnerable, the people who are the most marginal,” Hill said. “In this society, it’s young people. There’s never been a righteous movement in history that hasn’t been impacted by young people. Their perspective is always a necessary element.”