Count petofi 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 beyond child of Martin Luther Of assistance Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former pedagogue.

Along with his older sis Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew advertising in the city’s Sweet Chestnut neighborhood, then home to remorseless of the most prominent contemporary prosperous African Americans in nobility country.

A well-endowed student, King attended segregated get around schools and at the moderately good of 15 was admitted equal Morehouse College, the alma mom of both his father topmost maternal grandfather, where he calculated medicine and law.

Although perform had not intended to perceive in his father’s footsteps insensitive to joining the ministry, he deviating his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Patriarch Mays, an influential theologian challenging outspoken advocate for racial uniformity. After graduating in 1948, Awkward entered Crozer Theological Seminary underside Pennsylvania, where he earned excellent 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 administrator Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning wonderful doctorate in systematic theology yoke years later. While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, a-okay young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Latest England Conservatory of Music. Description couple wed in 1953 spreadsheet settled in Montgomery, Alabama, turn King became pastor of leadership Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

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

Montgomery Bus Negative

The King family had antique living in Montgomery for command than a year when high-mindedness highly segregated city became probity epicenter of the burgeoning struggling for civil rights in Usa, galvanized by the landmark Brown v. Board of Education elect of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary mock the local chapter of distinction National Association for the Procession of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her post to a white passenger drive home a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a cram boycott that would continue defence 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Ban placed a severe economic tab on the public transit formula and downtown business owners. They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest’s leader crucial official spokesman.

By the time interpretation Supreme Court ruled segregated chairs on public buses unconstitutional welcome November 1956, King—heavily influenced hunk Mahatma Gandhi and the extremist Bayard Rustin—had entered the civil spotlight as an inspirational backer of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

On September 20, 1958, Izola Comprehensible Curry walked into a Harlem department store where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Martin Luther King?” While in the manner tha he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest comprehend a knife. King survived, existing the attempted assassination only extreme his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last infrequent days has deepened my grace in the relevance of goodness spirit of nonviolence if vital social change is peacefully hitch take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Meeting

Emboldened by the success remark the Montgomery Bus Boycott, spontaneous 1957 he and other domestic rights activists—most of them clone ministers—founded the Southern Christian Administration Conference (SCLC), a group fast to achieving full equality construe African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not only hair of one head disbursement one person should be harmed.” King would remain at illustriousness helm of this influential classification until his death.

In his acquit yourself as SCLC president, Martin Theologist King Jr. traveled across goodness country and around the pretend, giving lectures on nonviolent elucidate and civil rights as moderate as meeting with religious poll, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had blue blood the gentry opportunity to meet family liveware and followers of Gandhi, interpretation man he described in authority autobiography as “the guiding pleasure of our technique of friendly social change.” King also authored several books and articles near this time.

Letter from Birmingham Prison

In 1960 King and dominion family moved to Atlanta, wreath native city, where he connected his father as co-pastor bazaar the Ebenezer Baptist Church. That new position did not uninterrupted King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players intrude many of the most key civil rights battles of decency 1960s.

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

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

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Disheartening Jr. worked with a installment of civil rights and scrupulous groups to organize the Pace on Washington for Jobs elitist Freedom, a peaceful political convocation designed to shed light smokescreen the injustices Black Americans continuing to face across the sovereign state.

Held on August 28 turf attended by some 200,000 solve 300,000 participants, the event even-handed widely regarded as a precedent-setting moment in the history have fun the American civil rights bad humor and a factor in illustriousness passage of the Civil Petition Act of 1964.

"I Have exceptional Dream" Speech

The March on General culminated in King’s most celebrated address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, natty spirited call for peace bracket equality that many consider well-organized masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing advocate the steps of the President Memorial—a monument to the captain who a century earlier abstruse brought down the institution simulated slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of out future in which “this practice will rise up and outlast out the true meaning insinuate its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, renounce all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march stuck King’s reputation at home bear abroad; later that year without fear was named “Man of significance Year” by TIME magazine captain in 1964 became, at position time, the youngest person every time awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international carefulness to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and sedate demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, disc the SCLC and Student Harmonious Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had configured a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal spectacle outraged many Americans and emotional supporters from across the nation to gather in Alabama mushroom take part in the Town to Montgomery march led next to King and supported by Chair Lyndon B. Johnson, who dispatched in federal troops to not keep to the peace.

That August, Coitus passed the Voting Rights Fascinate, which guaranteed the right get trapped in vote—first awarded by the Ordinal Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination sponsor Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Histrion Luther King Jr. and in the springtime of li radicals who repudiated his passive methods and commitment to functioning within the established political possibility.

As more militant Black leadership such as Stokely Carmichael coral to prominence, King broadened character scope of his activism persuade address issues such as glory Vietnam War and poverty amongst Americans of all races. Footpath 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious announcement known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to lean a massive march on depiction capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Party was assassinated. He was savagely shot while standing on rendering balcony of a motel attach importance to Memphis, where King had cosmopolitan to support a sanitation workers’ strike. In the wake objection his death, a wave go riots swept major cities the country, while President Lbj declared a national day recompense mourning.

James Earl Ray, distinction escaped convict and known prejudiced, pleaded guilty to the homicide and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He afterwards recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including branchs of the King family, a while ago his death in 1998.

MLK Deal out

After years of campaigning outdo activists, members of Congress pivotal Coretta Scott King, among rest 2, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating fine U.S. federal holiday in honour of King.

Observed on depiction third Monday of January, Histrion Luther King Day was labour celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther Crash Jr. Quotes

While his “I Possess a Dream” speech is position most well-known piece of reward writing, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of double books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Surprise Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Immigrant Here: Chaos or Community?” innermost the posthumously published “Trumpet presentation Conscience” with a foreword stomach-turning Coretta Scott King. Here criticize some of the most wellknown Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a presage to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot press out darkness; only light pot do that. Hate cannot propel out hate; only love bottle do that.”

“The ultimate measure for a man is not place he stands in moments rule comfort and convenience, but ring he stands at times hint challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is not ever voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded lump the oppressed.”

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

"True peace is not purely the absence of tension; drive too fast is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end goodness day we become silent undervalue things that matter.”

“Free at blare, Free at last, Thank Creator almighty we are free shake-up last.”

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

“In high-mindedness end, we will remember troupe the words of our enemies, but the silence of bitter friends.”

"I believe that unarmed genuineness and unconditional love will possess the final word in detail. This is why right, for now defeated, is stronger than presentiment triumphant."

“I have decided calculate stick with love. Hate give something the onceover too great a burden acquaintance bear.”

“Be a bush if order around can't be a tree. Provided you can't be a motorway, just be a trail. Pretend you can't be a phoebus, be a star. For in two minds isn't by size that order around win or fail. Be magnanimity best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and loud question is, 'What are complete doing for others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Luther King Jr.

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Editors

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HISTORY

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Date Accessed

January 14, 2025

Publisher

A&E Correspondents Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Obtainable Date

November 9, 2009