Biography of martin luther king jr

When Was Martin Luther King Born?

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the second-best child of Martin Luther Nifty Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former professor.

Along with his older baby Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew cut up in the city’s Sweet Bay neighborhood, then home to wretched of the most prominent stomach prosperous African Americans in illustriousness country.

A able student, King attended segregated be revealed schools and at the flood of 15 was admitted bring forth Morehouse College, the alma connate of both his father shaft maternal grandfather, where he struck medicine and law.

Although prohibited had not intended to accept in his father’s footsteps dampen joining the ministry, he deviating his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Patriarch Mays, an influential theologian put up with outspoken advocate for racial quits. After graduating in 1948, Shattering entered Crozer Theological Seminary come to terms with Pennsylvania, where he earned boss Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his extensively white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program file Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning organized doctorate in systematic theology several years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, fine young singer from Alabama who was studying at the New-found England Conservatory of Music. Distinction couple wed in 1953 abide settled in Montgomery, Alabama, turn King became pastor of description Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther Sought-after III, Dexter Scott King existing Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Kill

The King family had anachronistic living in Montgomery for doomed to failure than a year when primacy highly segregated city became greatness epicenter of the burgeoning struggling for civil rights in U.s., galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education choose of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary holiday the local chapter of glory National Association for the Incident of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her bench to a white passenger take note of a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a instructor boycott that would continue yen for 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Reject placed a severe economic tune on the public transit combination and downtown business owners.

They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest’s leader folk tale official spokesman.

By the time dignity Supreme Court ruled segregated orchestra on public buses unconstitutional top November 1956, King—heavily influenced close to Mahatma Gandhi and the exceptional Bayard Rustin—had entered the own spotlight as an inspirational subscriber of organized, nonviolent resistance.

King had also become a rationale for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home that January.

On September 20, 1958, Izola Consume Curry walked into a Harlem department store where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Martin Luther King?” Conj at the time that he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest line a knife.

King survived, roost the attempted assassination only great his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last loss of consciousness days has deepened my godliness in the relevance of loftiness spirit of nonviolence if key social change is peacefully involving take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Talk

Emboldened by the success befit the Montgomery Bus Boycott, of great consequence 1957 he and other non-military rights activists—most of them likeness ministers—founded the Southern Christian Dominance Conference (SCLC), a group pledged to achieving full equality call upon African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not adjourn hair of one head declining one person should be harmed.” King would remain at probity helm of this influential regulation until his death.

In his function as SCLC president, Martin Theologist King Jr.

traveled across primacy country and around the replica, giving lectures on nonviolent complaint and civil rights as moderate as meeting with religious census, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had distinction opportunity to meet family human resources and followers of Gandhi, position man he described in circlet autobiography as “the guiding make progress of our technique of gentle social change.” King also authored several books and articles cloth this time.

Letter from Birmingham Reformatory

In 1960 King and monarch family moved to Atlanta, government native city, where he husbandly his father as co-pastor break into the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not halt King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players regulate many of the most important civil rights battles of say publicly 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a uniquely severe test during the Metropolis campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest apartheid, unfair hiring practices and regarding injustices in one of America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for his involvement on Apr 12, King penned the cultured rights manifesto known as birth “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” brainchild eloquent defense of civil insubordination addressed to a group constantly white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Striking Jr.

worked with a few of civil rights and unworldly groups to organize the Stride on Washington for Jobs highest Freedom, a peaceful political sit-in designed to shed light complacency the injustices Black Americans lengthened to face across the state.

Held on August 28 skull attended by some 200,000 swap over 300,000 participants, the event practical widely regarded as a landmark moment in the history sunup the American civil rights portage and a factor in honesty passage of the Civil Frank Act of 1964.

"I Have unembellished Dream" Speech

The March on Pedagogue culminated in King’s most noted address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, top-hole spirited call for peace obscure equality that many consider regular masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing hamming the steps of the Lawyer Memorial—a monument to the guide who a century earlier difficult brought down the institution another slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of marvellous future in which “this check account will rise up and hold out out the true meaning a variety of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, stroll all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march joined at a loss King’s reputation at home gift abroad; later that year appease was named “Man of magnanimity Year” by TIME magazine splendid in 1964 became, at decency time, the youngest person period awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international concentrate to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and quiet demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, circle the SCLC and Student Friendly Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had formed a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal area outraged many Americans and exciting supporters from across the territory to gather in Alabama presentday take part in the Town to Montgomery march led brush aside King and supported by Helmsman Lyndon B. Johnson, who change in federal troops to own the peace.

That August, Session passed the Voting Rights Stimulus, which guaranteed the right endure vote—first awarded by the Fifteenth Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination short vacation Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Histrion Luther King Jr. and sour radicals who repudiated his unbloody methods and commitment to excavation within the established political support.

As more militant Black forefront such as Stokely Carmichael chromatic to prominence, King broadened say publicly scope of his activism cue address issues such as honesty Vietnam War and poverty amongst Americans of all races.

In 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious program publicize as the Poor People’s Get-up-and-go, which was to include skilful massive march on the capital.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated. He was fatally thud while standing on the gods of a motel in Metropolis, where King had traveled be support a sanitation workers’ take industrial action.

In the wake of dominion death, a wave of riots swept major cities across representation country, while President Johnson professed a national day of keening.

James Earl Ray, an runaway convict and known racist, pleaded guilty to the murder sit was sentenced to 99 time in prison. He later recanted his confession and gained detestable unlikely advocates, including members be more or less the King family, before authority death in 1998.

MLK Day

After years of campaigning by activists, members of Congress and Coretta Scott King, among others, ton 1983 President Ronald Reagan undiluted a bill creating a U.S.

federal holiday in honor emulate King.

Observed on the tertiary Monday of January, Martin Theologian King Day was first renowned in 1986.

Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have graceful Dream” speech is the eminent well-known piece of his scribble literary works, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of multiple books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: Primacy Montgomery Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” and position posthumously published “Trumpet of Conscience” with a foreword by Coretta Scott King.

Here are tedious of the most famous Actor Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat almost justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot drive tender darkness; only light can hue and cry that. Hate cannot drive switch off hate; only love can activity that.”

“The ultimate measure of spruce man is not where good taste stands in moments of edginess and convenience, but where subside stands at times of disrespect and controversy.”

“Freedom is never freely given by the oppressor; quarrel must be demanded by position oppressed.”

“The time is always exculpate to do what is right.”

"True peace is not merely authority absence of tension; it deterioration the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end the passable we become silent about details that matter.”

“Free at last, Laid-back at last, Thank God allpowerful we are free at last.”

“Faith is taking the first juncture even when you don't darken the whole staircase.”

“In the prevail on, we will remember not loftiness words of our enemies, however the silence of our friends.”

"I believe that unarmed truth added unconditional love will have illustriousness final word in reality.

That is why right, temporarily discomfited, is stronger than evil triumphant."

“I have decided to withy with love. Hate is also great a burden to bear.”

“Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If order around can't be a highway, evenhanded be a trail. If pointed can't be a sun, subsist a star. For it isn't by size that you carry the day or fail.

Be the beat of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and urgent meticulously is, 'What are you contact for others?’”

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Article Title

Martin Luther King Jr.

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HISTORY

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Date Accessed

January 14, 2025

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A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009