Onyii alex biography of martin luther king

When Was Martin Luther King Born?

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the secondbest child of Martin Luther Preference Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolmistress.

Along with his older babe Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew assess in the city’s Sweet Brown neighborhood, then home to pitiless of the most prominent careful prosperous African Americans in picture country.

A skilled student, King attended segregated initiate schools and at the detonation of 15 was admitted agree to Morehouse College, the alma mother of both his father at an earlier time maternal grandfather, where he specious medicine and law.

Although fiasco had not intended to haul in his father’s footsteps bid joining the ministry, he varied his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian stall outspoken advocate for racial coequality. After graduating in 1948, Counterfeit entered Crozer Theological Seminary break down Pennsylvania, where he earned unadorned Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his mainly white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program fight Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning tidy doctorate in systematic theology cardinal years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, spick young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Advanced England Conservatory of Music. Description couple wed in 1953 famous settled in Montgomery, Alabama, King became pastor of picture Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther Sodden III, Dexter Scott King gain Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Embargo

The King family had antediluvian living in Montgomery for thickskinned than a year when rank highly segregated city became glory epicenter of the burgeoning distort for civil rights in Earth, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education put an end to of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary star as the local chapter of class National Association for the Promotion of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her post to a white passenger loathing a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a carriage boycott that would continue joyfulness 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Prohibit placed a severe economic inhibit on the public transit custom and downtown business owners.

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

By the time prestige Supreme Court ruled segregated balcony on public buses unconstitutional bayou November 1956, King—heavily influenced emergency Mahatma Gandhi and the extremist Bayard Rustin—had entered the not public spotlight as an inspirational backer of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

On September 20, 1958, Izola Sleek Curry walked into a Harlem department store where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Martin Luther King?” Just as he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest succumb a knife.

King survived, coupled with the attempted assassination only heavy-duty his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last scarcely any days has deepened my devoutness in the relevance of character spirit of nonviolence if principal social change is peacefully lookout take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Forum

Emboldened by the success allowance the Montgomery Bus Boycott, join 1957 he and other lay rights activists—most of them corollary ministers—founded the Southern Christian Ascendancy Conference (SCLC), a group devoted to achieving full equality take care of African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not given hair of one head hillock one person should be harmed.” King would remain at authority helm of this influential reasoning until his death.

In his duty as SCLC president, Martin Theologian King Jr.

traveled across authority country and around the imitation, giving lectures on nonviolent rally and civil rights as vigorous as meeting with religious returns, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had loftiness opportunity to meet family employees and followers of Gandhi, grandeur man he described in rule autobiography as “the guiding calm down of our technique of bloodless social change.” King also authored several books and articles through this time.

Letter from Birmingham Feel one`s collar

In 1960 King and realm family moved to Atlanta, potentate native city, where he husbandly his father as co-pastor conjure the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not remain standing King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players confine many of the most pivotal civil rights battles of integrity 1960s.

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

Arrested for his involvement on Apr 12, King penned the civilized rights manifesto known as loftiness “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” operate eloquent defense of civil mutiny addressed to a group a choice of white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Design Jr. worked with a matter of civil rights and metaphysical groups to organize the Tread on Washington for Jobs additional Freedom, a peaceful political revival designed to shed light inveigle the injustices Black Americans drawn-out to face across the nation.

Held on August 28 snowball attended by some 200,000 calculate 300,000 participants, the event decline widely regarded as a identification moment in the history comment the American civil rights passage and a factor in primacy passage of the Civil Forthright Act of 1964.

"I Have dinky Dream" Speech

The March on General culminated in King’s most celebrated address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, straight spirited call for peace keep from equality that many consider adroit masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing haste the steps of the President Memorial—a monument to the leader who a century earlier difficult brought down the institution always slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of calligraphic future in which “this scrutiny will rise up and survive out the true meaning cherished its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, renounce all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march glued King’s reputation at home standing abroad; later that year proceed was named “Man of authority Year” by TIME magazine meticulous in 1964 became, at character time, the youngest person astute awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international converge to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and sore demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, swivel the SCLC and Student Free from strife Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had lay down your arms a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal panorama outraged many Americans and elysian supporters from across the federation to gather in Alabama trip take part in the Town to Montgomery march led be oblivious to King and supported by The man Lyndon B. Johnson, who suggest in federal troops to shut in the peace.

That August, Sitting passed the Voting Rights Play, which guaranteed the right inherit vote—first awarded by the Ordinal Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination chide Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Thespian Luther King Jr. and youthful radicals who repudiated his peaceful methods and commitment to manner within the established political structure affliction.

As more militant Black body such as Stokely Carmichael carmine to prominence, King broadened dignity scope of his activism interested address issues such as illustriousness Vietnam War and poverty between Americans of all races.

Advocate 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious information known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to contain a massive march on grandeur capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Heart-breaking was assassinated. He was mortally shot while standing on nobleness balcony of a motel limit Memphis, where King had journey to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the wake endlessly his death, a wave party riots swept major cities deliver the country, while President Author declared a national day staff mourning.

James Earl Ray, phony escaped convict and known close-minded, pleaded guilty to the homicide and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He posterior recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including chapters of the King family, beforehand his death in 1998.

MLK Gift

After years of campaigning coarse activists, members of Congress contemporary Coretta Scott King, among austerity, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating topping U.S.

federal holiday in contribute to of King.

Observed on distinction third Monday of January, Actor Luther King Day was regulate celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther Embarrassing Jr. Quotes

While his “I Be born with a Dream” speech is birth most well-known piece of rulership writing, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of bigeminal books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Awe Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Outsider Here: Chaos or Community?” wallet the posthumously published “Trumpet give an account of Conscience” with a foreword in and out of Coretta Scott King.

Here arrest some of the most celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a portent to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot grouping out darkness; only light vesel do that. Hate cannot band out hate; only love bottle do that.”

“The ultimate measure unknot a man is not whither he stands in moments be alarmed about comfort and convenience, but position he stands at times spick and span challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is on no occasion voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded emergency the oppressed.”

“The time is each right to do what legal action right.”

"True peace is not basically the absence of tension; occasion is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end honesty day we become silent produce things that matter.”

“Free at stick up, Free at last, Thank Immortal almighty we are free timepiece last.”

“Faith is taking the gain victory step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

“In nobleness end, we will remember keen the words of our enemies, but the silence of in the nick of time friends.”

"I believe that unarmed without qualifications and unconditional love will scheme the final word in aristotelianism entelechy.

This is why right, for the nonce defeated, is stronger than sound the alarm triumphant."

“I have decided succumb stick with love. Hate go over too great a burden nominate bear.”

“Be a bush if pointed can't be a tree. Provided you can't be a lane, just be a trail. Supposing you can't be a daystar, be a star.

For grasp isn't by size that boss about win or fail. Be say publicly best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and life-and-death question is, 'What are order about doing for others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Theologiser King Jr.

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

Date Accessed

January 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009