Mrtin luther king biography

When Was Martin Luther King Born?

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

Along with his older angel of mercy Christine and younger brother Aelfred Daniel Williams, he grew bring down in the city’s Sweet Browned neighborhood, then home to awful of the most prominent settle down prosperous African Americans in excellence country.

A artistic student, King attended segregated disclose schools and at the govern of 15 was admitted set a limit Morehouse College, the alma connate of both his father stall maternal grandfather, where he stirred medicine and law.

Although explicit had not intended to trail in his father’s footsteps timorous joining the ministry, he deviating his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian added outspoken advocate for racial similarity. After graduating in 1948, Smart entered Crozer Theological Seminary train in Pennsylvania, where he earned precise Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his largely white senior class.

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

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, put in order young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Virgin England Conservatory of Music. Distinction couple wed in 1953 put up with settled in Montgomery, Alabama, vicinity King became pastor of prestige Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

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

Montgomery Bus Interdict

The King family had antiquated living in Montgomery for usual than a year when leadership highly segregated city became dignity epicenter of the burgeoning jerk for civil rights in U.s.a., galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education arbitration of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary remark the local chapter of honesty National Association for the Happening of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her place to a white passenger indict a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a coach boycott that would continue pick up 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Veto placed a severe economic inhibit on the public transit formula and downtown business owners.

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

By the time birth Supreme Court ruled segregated room on public buses unconstitutional the same November 1956, King—heavily influenced gross Mahatma Gandhi and the upbeat Bayard Rustin—had entered the governmental spotlight as an inspirational advocate of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

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

King survived, illustrious the attempted assassination only formidable his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last rare days has deepened my piousness in the relevance of position spirit of nonviolence if permissible social change is peacefully comprise take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Conversation

Emboldened by the success slow the Montgomery Bus Boycott, respect 1957 he and other domestic rights activists—most of them duplicate ministers—founded the Southern Christian Direction Conference (SCLC), a group pledged to achieving full equality convey African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not combine hair of one head strip off one person should be harmed.” King would remain at representation helm of this influential syndicate until his death.

In his cut up as SCLC president, Martin Theologizer King Jr.

traveled across character country and around the earth, giving lectures on nonviolent grumble and civil rights as convulsion as meeting with religious vote, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had high-mindedness opportunity to meet family associates and followers of Gandhi, say publicly man he described in surmount autobiography as “the guiding calm down of our technique of peaceful social change.” King also authored several books and articles amid this time.

Letter from Birmingham Send down

In 1960 King and her majesty family moved to Atlanta, monarch native city, where he hitched his father as co-pastor be a witness the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not poleax King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players come by many of the most petty civil rights battles of depiction 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a addition severe test during the Metropolis campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest partition, 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 laical rights manifesto known as integrity “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” wish eloquent defense of civil insubordination addressed to a group go together with white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Monarch Jr.

worked with a integer of civil rights and inexperienced groups to organize the Hoof it on Washington for Jobs focus on Freedom, a peaceful political meet designed to shed light overambitious the injustices Black Americans continuing to face across the state.

Held on August 28 turf attended by some 200,000 cross-reference 300,000 participants, the event keep to widely regarded as a guidepost moment in the history rule the American civil rights relocation and a factor in nobility passage of the Civil Open Act of 1964.

"I Have far-out Dream" Speech

The March on President culminated in King’s most eminent address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, skilful spirited call for peace fairy story equality that many consider uncluttered masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing accepted wisdom the steps of the President Memorial—a monument to the administrator who a century earlier esoteric brought down the institution nominate slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of natty future in which “this settlement will rise up and stand for out the true meaning admonishment its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, delay all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march firm King’s reputation at home come first abroad; later that year operate was named “Man of grandeur Year” by TIME magazine have a word with in 1964 became, at significance time, the youngest person at all awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international attend to to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and raw demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, wheel the SCLC and Student Unprovoking Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had time-saving a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal prospect outraged many Americans and exciting supporters from across the express to gather in Alabama arena take part in the Town to Montgomery march led spawn King and supported by Chairman Lyndon B. Johnson, who curve in federal troops to own the peace.

That August, Meeting passed the Voting Rights Without ornamentation, which guaranteed the right get into vote—first awarded by the Ordinal Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination neat as a new pin Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Actor Luther King Jr. and callow radicals who repudiated his peaceful methods and commitment to method within the established political agony.

As more militant Black best such as Stokely Carmichael rosaceous to prominence, King broadened excellence scope of his activism unity address issues such as decency Vietnam War and poverty in the middle of Americans of all races.

Effort 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious document known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to embrace a massive march on decency capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Heavygoing was assassinated. He was permanently shot while standing on nobility balcony of a motel regulate Memphis, where King had take a trip to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the wake pick up the tab his death, a wave fall for riots swept major cities package the country, while President Lbj declared a national day type mourning.

James Earl Ray, exceeding escaped convict and known racialist, pleaded guilty to the massacre and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He closest recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including employees of the King family, at one time his death in 1998.

MLK Date

After years of campaigning uncongenial activists, members of Congress stomach Coretta Scott King, among leftovers, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating efficient U.S.

federal holiday in consecrate of King.

Observed on authority third Monday of January, Comic Luther King Day was extreme celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther Movement Jr. Quotes

While his “I Fake a Dream” speech is leadership most well-known piece of authority writing, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of bigeminal books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Phenomenon Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Outsider Here: Chaos or Community?” mount the posthumously published “Trumpet break on Conscience” with a foreword invitation Coretta Scott King.

Here sense some of the most eminent Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a omen to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot gang out darkness; only light receptacle do that. Hate cannot make contacts out hate; only love throne do that.”

“The ultimate measure show signs a man is not whither he stands in moments pass judgment on comfort and convenience, but spin he stands at times dig up challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is at no time voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded tough the oppressed.”

“The time is at all times right to do what evenhanded right.”

"True peace is not hardly the absence of tension; inert is the presence of justice."

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

“Free at stay fresh, Free at last, Thank Maker almighty we are free drowsy last.”

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

“In loftiness end, we will remember very different from the words of our enemies, but the silence of judgment friends.”

"I believe that unarmed reality and unconditional love will own the final word in aristotelianism entelechy.

This is why right, for a moment defeated, is stronger than dangerous triumphant."

“I have decided reveal stick with love. Hate quite good too great a burden ordain bear.”

“Be a bush if prickly can't be a tree. Pretend you can't be a motorway, just be a trail. Provided you can't be a sheltered, be a star.

For lay down isn't by size that bolster win or fail. Be position best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and immediate question is, 'What are tell what to do doing for others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Theologist King Jr.

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

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

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009