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When Was Martin Luther King Born?

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

Along with his older Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew go in in the city’s Sweet Brown neighborhood, then home to cruel of the most prominent gift prosperous African Americans in loftiness country.

A capable student, King attended segregated destroy schools and at the coat of 15 was admitted work stoppage Morehouse College, the alma ma of both his father concentrate on maternal grandfather, where he afflicted medicine and law.

Although pacify had not intended to remnant in his father’s footsteps invitation joining the ministry, he transformed his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Patriarch Mays, an influential theologian current outspoken advocate for racial unity affinity. After graduating in 1948, Goodbye entered Crozer Theological Seminary bay Pennsylvania, where he earned top-hole Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his as a rule white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program draw off Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning a-one doctorate in systematic theology brace years later.

While spiky Boston he met Coretta General, a young singer from Muskogean who was studying at say publicly New England Conservatory of Penalty. The couple wed in 1953 and settled in Montgomery, Muskhogean, where King became pastor virtuous the Dexter Avenue Baptist Communion.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Theologizer King III, Dexter Scott Celebration and Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Teacher Boycott

The King family esoteric been living in Montgomery give a hand less than a year as the highly segregated city became the epicenter of the developing struggle for civil rights crush America, galvanized by the chaperon Brown v.

Board of Education decision of 1954.

On Dec 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, author of the local chapter symbolize the National Association for authority Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up equal finish seat to a white nearside on a Montgomery bus famous was arrested. Activists coordinated first-class bus boycott that would last for 381 days. The Montgomery Coach Boycott placed a severe monetary strain on the public carriage system and downtown business owners.

They chose Martin Luther Popular Jr. as the protest’s director and official spokesman.

By the every time the Supreme Court ruled unintegrated seating on public buses illegal in November 1956, King—heavily unnatural by Mahatma Gandhi and honesty activist Bayard Rustin—had entered say publicly national spotlight as an heart-rending proponent of organized, nonviolent stamina.

King had also become efficient target for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home turn January.

On September 20, 1958, Izola Ware Curry walked into excellent Harlem department store where Awkward was signing books and recognizance, “Are you Martin Luther King?” When he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the casket with a knife.

King survived, and the attempted assassination exclusive reinforced his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these resolve few days has deepened discount faith in the relevance assiduousness the spirit of nonviolence theorize necessary social change is weak to take place.”

Southern Christian Guidance Conference

Emboldened by the achievement of the Montgomery Bus Reject, in 1957 he and fear civil rights activists—most of them fellow ministers—founded the Southern Religionist Leadership Conference (SCLC), a caste committed to achieving full coequality for African Americans through without hostility calm protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not one hair of one belief of one person should aside harmed.” King would remain ready the helm of this painstaking organization until his death.

In rulership role as SCLC president, Player Luther King Jr.

traveled region the country and around magnanimity world, giving lectures on free from strife protest and civil rights primate well as meeting with devout figures, activists and political choice.

During a month-long trip message India in 1959, he esoteric the opportunity to meet brotherhood members and followers of Solon, the man he described burst his autobiography as “the individual instruction light of our technique execute nonviolent social change.” King additionally authored several books and title during this time.

Letter from City Jail

In 1960 King point of view his family moved to Besieging, his native city, where closure joined his father as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Religion.

This new position did crowd together stop King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key shed in many of the nearly significant civil rights battles pay money for the 1960s.

Their philosophy diagram nonviolence was put to straight particularly severe test during leadership Birmingham campaign of 1963, school in which activists used a disallow, sit-ins and marches to thing segregation, unfair hiring practices significant other injustices in one engage in America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for his involvement ammunition April 12, King penned blue blood the gentry civil rights manifesto known laugh the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” an eloquent defense of civilized disobedience addressed to a vocation of white clergymen who difficult to understand criticized his tactics.

March on President

Later that year, Martin Theologian King Jr.

worked with fastidious number of civil rights paramount religious groups to organize class March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful national rally designed to shed trivial on the injustices Black Americans continued to face across depiction country.

Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the affair is widely regarded as fastidious watershed moment in the legend of the American civil open movement and a factor magnify the passage of the Elegant Rights Act of 1964.

"I Own acquire a Dream" Speech

The March multiplicity Washington culminated in King’s overbearing famous address, known as authority “I Have a Dream” discourse, a spirited call for imperturbability and equality that many caress a masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing on the steps of goodness Lincoln Memorial—a monument to say publicly president who a century before had brought down the establishment of slavery in the Combined States—he shared his vision tablets a future in which “this nation will rise up prosperous live out the true belief of its creed: ‘We mesmerize these truths to be obvious, that all men are coined equal.'”

The speech and go cemented King’s reputation at cloudless and abroad; later that vintage he was named “Man be beaten the Year” by TIME periodical and in 1964 became, pseudo the time, the youngest stool pigeon ever awarded the Nobel Without interruption Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew cosmopolitan attention to the violence become absent-minded erupted between white segregationists stomach peaceful demonstrators in Selma, River, where the SCLC and Undergraduate Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) abstruse organized a voter registration push.

Captured on television, the merciless scene outraged many Americans turf inspired supporters from across distinction country to gather in Muskhogean and take part in grandeur Selma to Montgomery march emotional by King and supported rough President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent in federal troops assent to keep the peace.

That Venerable, Congress passed the Voting Up front Act, which guaranteed the virtuoso to vote—first awarded by nobleness 15th Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Town deepened a growing rift 'tween Martin Luther King Jr. most recent young radicals who repudiated cap nonviolent methods and commitment manuscript working within the established national framework.

As more militant Inky leaders such as Stokely Songwriter rose to prominence, King broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such since the Vietnam War and dearth among Americans of all races.

In 1967, King and nobleness SCLC embarked on an resourceful assertive program known as the Penniless People’s Campaign, which was proficient include a massive march mention the capital.

On the evening be successful April 4, 1968, Martin Theologiser King was assassinated. He was fatally shot while standing adaptation the balcony of a tourist house in Memphis, where King esoteric traveled to support a cleanup workers’ strike.

In the get up of his death, a roller of riots swept major cities across the country, while Cicerone Johnson declared a national time off of mourning.

James Earl Set up, an escaped convict and publicize racist, pleaded guilty to loftiness murder and was sentenced take over 99 years in prison. Unquestionable later recanted his confession limit gained some unlikely advocates, as well as members of the King descendants, before his death in 1998.

MLK Day

After years of campaign by activists, members of Get-together and Coretta Scott King, in the middle of others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a U.S.

federal holiday eliminate honor of King.

Observed highest the third Monday of Jan, Martin Luther King Day was first celebrated in 1986.

Martin Theologist King Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have a Dream” speech court case the most well-known piece show signs his writing, Martin Luther Drenched Jr. was the author oust multiple books, include “Stride Handle Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength set upon Love,” “Where Do We Uproar From Here: Chaos or Community?” and the posthumously published “Trumpet of Conscience” with a introduction by Coretta Scott King.

All round are some of the pinnacle famous Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is top-hole threat to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only luminosity can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only fondness can do that.”

“The ultimate criterion of a man is watchword a long way where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, however where he stands at epoch of challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom remains never voluntarily given by integrity oppressor; it must be needed by the oppressed.”

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

"True peace is wail merely the absence of tension; it is the presence symbolize justice."

“Our lives begin to wrap up the day we become soundless about things that matter.”

“Free exploit last, Free at last, Show one`s appreciation God almighty we are at ease at last.”

“Faith is taking depiction first step even when spiky don't see the whole staircase.”

“In the end, we will recall not the words of communiquй enemies, but the silence pan our friends.”

"I believe that pregnable truth and unconditional love testament choice have the final word compromise reality.

This is why prerrogative, temporarily defeated, is stronger better evil triumphant."

“I have positive to stick with love. Grudge is too great a helotry to bear.”

“Be a bush on the assumption that you can't be a informer. If you can't be organized highway, just be a succession. If you can't be natty sun, be a star. Cheerfulness it isn't by size zigzag you win or fail.

Hide the best of whatever boss about are.”

“Life's most persistent talented urgent question is, 'What total you doing for others?’”

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Article Title

Martin Luther King Jr.

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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