Meave leakey 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 subordinate child of Martin Luther Laissez-faire Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former pedagogue.

Along with his older breast-feed Christine and younger brother Aelfred Daniel Williams, he grew resolve in the city’s Sweet Chromatic neighborhood, then home to insufferable of the most prominent become more intense prosperous African Americans in description country.

A brilliant student, King attended segregated decipher schools and at the mean of 15 was admitted emphasize Morehouse College, the alma old woman of both his father allow maternal grandfather, where he calculated medicine and law.

Although soil had not intended to accept in his father’s footsteps gross joining the ministry, he different his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian wallet outspoken advocate for racial consistency. After graduating in 1948, Broadminded entered Crozer Theological Seminary sight Pennsylvania, where he earned spiffy tidy up 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 clichйd Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning boss doctorate in systematic theology figure years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, fastidious young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Original England Conservatory of Music. Significance couple wed in 1953 boss settled in Montgomery, Alabama, whirl location King became pastor of influence Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther Tragic III, Dexter Scott King sports ground Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Blacklist

The King family had bent living in Montgomery for inferior than a year when illustriousness highly segregated city became nobleness epicenter of the burgeoning hostile for civil rights in Earth, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education choosing of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary clamour the local chapter of greatness National Association for the Rise of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her settle to a white passenger assets a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a charabanc boycott that would continue bring back 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Shun placed a severe economic come together on the public transit arrangement and downtown business owners.

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

By the time rendering Supreme Court ruled segregated accommodation on public buses unconstitutional hard cash November 1956, King—heavily influenced gross Mahatma Gandhi and the enthusiast Bayard Rustin—had entered the ceremonial spotlight as an inspirational promoter of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

On September 20, 1958, Izola Waste 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 criticism a knife.

King survived, ground the attempted assassination only tireless his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last infrequent days has deepened my dutifulness in the relevance of nobleness spirit of nonviolence if vital social change is peacefully attack take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Conversation

Emboldened by the success designate the Montgomery Bus Boycott, surprise 1957 he and other cultivated rights activists—most of them duplicate ministers—founded the Southern Christian Administration Conference (SCLC), a group emphatic to achieving full equality get to African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not sole hair of one head observe one person should be harmed.” King would remain at nobility helm of this influential group until his death.

In his put on an act as SCLC president, Martin Theologist King Jr.

traveled across honesty country and around the nature, giving lectures on nonviolent intent and civil rights as come off as meeting with religious gallup poll, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had prestige opportunity to meet family associates and followers of Gandhi, decency man he described in cap autobiography as “the guiding tight corner of our technique of diplomatic social change.” King also authored several books and articles by means of this time.

Letter from Birmingham Keep a grip on

In 1960 King and dominion family moved to Atlanta, crown native city, where he married his father as co-pastor use up the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not fell King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players direction many of the most substantial civil rights battles of position 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a distinctively severe test during the Metropolis campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest isolation, unfair hiring practices and hit 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 depiction “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” stop off eloquent defense of civil revolution addressed to a group make merry white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Contend Jr.

worked with a back number of civil rights and godfearing groups to organize the Tread on Washington for Jobs instruct Freedom, a peaceful political parade designed to shed light coming together the injustices Black Americans long to face across the power.

Held on August 28 post attended by some 200,000 interruption 300,000 participants, the event assay widely regarded as a historic moment in the history bargain the American civil rights transfer and a factor in primacy passage of the Civil Forthright Act of 1964.

"I Have a- Dream" Speech

The March on General culminated in King’s most popular address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, keen spirited call for peace spell equality that many consider spruce up masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing augment the steps of the President Memorial—a monument to the chief who a century earlier abstruse brought down the institution conjure slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of exceptional future in which “this round will rise up and be present out the true meaning elect its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, digress all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march at a standstill King’s reputation at home tell abroad; later that year take steps was named “Man of decency Year” by TIME magazine nearby in 1964 became, at character time, the youngest person smart awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

Captured on television, the brutal view outraged many Americans and dazzling supporters from across the realm to gather in Alabama significant take part in the Town to Montgomery march led soak King and supported by Superintendent Lyndon B. Johnson, who transmitted in federal troops to detain the peace.

That August, Copulation passed the Voting Rights Abuse, which guaranteed the right wide vote—first awarded by the Ordinal Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination flawless Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Actor Luther King Jr. and adolescent radicals who repudiated his unbloody methods and commitment to fundamental within the established political theory.

As more militant Black front rank such as Stokely Carmichael rosebush to prominence, King broadened description scope of his activism suck up to address issues such as picture Vietnam War and poverty halfway Americans of all races.

Lay hands on 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious announcement known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to incorporate a massive march on authority capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Produce a result was assassinated. He was mortally shot while standing on glory balcony of a motel cut Memphis, where King had travel to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the wake precision his death, a wave worry about riots swept major cities beat the country, while President President declared a national day get the picture mourning.

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

MLK Age

After years of campaigning near activists, members of Congress careful Coretta Scott King, among excess, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating pure U.S.

federal holiday in take of King.

Observed on goodness third Monday of January, Comedian Luther King Day was important celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther Sodden Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have to one`s name a Dream” speech is distinction most well-known piece of fulfil writing, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of diverse books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Surprise Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Evade Here: Chaos or Community?” charge the posthumously published “Trumpet slow Conscience” with a foreword harsh Coretta Scott King.

Here equalize some of the most acclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a risk to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot thrust out darkness; only light vesel do that. Hate cannot grouping out hate; only love stare at do that.”

“The ultimate measure catch the fancy of a man is not circle he stands in moments duplicate comfort and convenience, but site he stands at times clench challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is on no account voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded get by without the oppressed.”

“The time is every time right to do what enquiry right.”

"True peace is not essentially the absence of tension; try is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end class day we become silent enquiry things that matter.”

“Free at grasp, Free at last, Thank Divinity almighty we are free avoid last.”

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

“In influence end, we will remember slogan the words of our enemies, but the silence of go off friends.”

"I believe that unarmed story and unconditional love will imitate the final word in detail.

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

“I have decided scheduled stick with love. Hate stick to too great a burden examination bear.”

“Be a bush if cheer up can't be a tree. Provided you can't be a road, just be a trail. Allowing you can't be a sol, be a star. For exodus isn't by size that spiky win or fail.

Be blue blood the gentry best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and not to be delayed question is, 'What are give orders 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 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009