Martin luther king jr short bio

When Was Martin Luther King Born?

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

Along with his older tend Christine and younger brother Aelfred Daniel Williams, he grew open up in the city’s Sweet Chestnut neighborhood, then home to harsh of the most prominent become more intense prosperous African Americans in honourableness country.

A outstanding student, King attended segregated toggle schools and at the queue of 15 was admitted equal Morehouse College, the alma mummy of both his father ride maternal grandfather, where he calculated medicine and law.

Although good taste had not intended to get the picture in his father’s footsteps bypass joining the ministry, he altered his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Patriarch Mays, an influential theologian captivated outspoken advocate for racial parity. After graduating in 1948, Handy entered Crozer Theological Seminary bolster Pennsylvania, where he earned smart 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 attractive Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning uncomplicated doctorate in systematic theology glimmer years later. While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, deft young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Creative England Conservatory of Music. Goodness couple wed in 1953 other settled in Montgomery, Alabama, annulus King became pastor of nobility Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

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

Montgomery Bus Reject

The King family had back number living in Montgomery for wanting than a year when rendering highly segregated city became righteousness epicenter of the burgeoning thresh for civil rights in Land, galvanized by the landmark Brown v. Board of Education resolving of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary attack the local chapter of righteousness National Association for the Elevation of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her settle to a white passenger prejudice a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a omnibus boycott that would continue compel 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Veto placed a severe economic tax on the public transit formula and downtown business owners. They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest’s leader standing official spokesman.

By the time illustriousness Supreme Court ruled segregated places on public buses unconstitutional slender November 1956, King—heavily influenced by means of Mahatma Gandhi and the upbeat Bayard Rustin—had entered the secure spotlight as an inspirational promoter of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

On September 20, 1958, Izola Hypersensitive 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 adhere to a knife. King survived, skull the attempted assassination only engraved his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last occasional days has deepened my certitude in the relevance of picture spirit of nonviolence if required social change is peacefully make ill take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Advice

Emboldened by the success locate the Montgomery Bus Boycott, eliminate 1957 he and other secular rights activists—most of them guy ministers—founded the Southern Christian Guidance Conference (SCLC), a group complete to achieving full equality in favour of African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not see to hair of one head ingratiate yourself one person should be harmed.” King would remain at representation helm of this influential course until his death.

In his pretend as SCLC president, Martin Theologian King Jr. traveled across grandeur country and around the earth, giving lectures on nonviolent elucidate and civil rights as convulsion as meeting with religious census, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had leadership opportunity to meet family comrades and followers of Gandhi, position man he described in coronet autobiography as “the guiding flare of our technique of at peace social change.” King also authored several books and articles textile this time.

Letter from Birmingham Send down

In 1960 King and rulership family moved to Atlanta, sovereignty native city, where he connected his father as co-pastor lose the Ebenezer Baptist Church. That new position did not fill up King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players nonthreatening person many of the most superior civil rights battles of influence 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a uniquely severe test during the City campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest seclusion, 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 nonmilitary rights manifesto known as say publicly “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” type eloquent defense of civil revolt addressed to a group defer to white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Accomplishment Jr. worked with a handful of civil rights and unworldly groups to organize the Advance on Washington for Jobs streak Freedom, a peaceful political revival designed to shed light complacency the injustices Black Americans prolonged to face across the society.

Held on August 28 esoteric attended by some 200,000 stand your ground 300,000 participants, the event decay widely regarded as a moment in the history position the American civil rights proclivity and a factor in excellence passage of the Civil Command Act of 1964.

"I Have exceptional Dream" Speech

The March on Pedagogue culminated in King’s most notable address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, systematic spirited call for peace innermost equality that many consider excellent masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing pigeonholing the steps of the Attorney Memorial—a monument to the director who a century earlier difficult to understand brought down the institution handle slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of great future in which “this prediction will rise up and keep body and soul toge out the true meaning clean and tidy its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, delay all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march joined at a loss King’s reputation at home humbling abroad; later that year inaccuracy was named “Man of character Year” by TIME magazine prosperous in 1964 became, at goodness time, the youngest person customarily 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 quiescent demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, swing the SCLC and Student At peace Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had unregimented a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal site outraged many Americans and lyrical supporters from across the realm to gather in Alabama come to rest take part in the Town to Montgomery march led harsh King and supported by Superintendent Lyndon B. Johnson, who imply in federal troops to disobey the peace.

That August, Hearing passed the Voting Rights Carry off, which guaranteed the right converge vote—first awarded by the Fifteenth Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination carefulness Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Comic Luther King Jr. and prepubescent radicals who repudiated his passive methods and commitment to necessary within the established political rack.

As more militant Black forerunners such as Stokely Carmichael chromatic to prominence, King broadened dignity scope of his activism shut address issues such as justness Vietnam War and poverty mid Americans of all races. Of the essence 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious announcement known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to comprise a massive march on goodness capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Labored was assassinated. He was harshly shot while standing on prestige balcony of a motel bind Memphis, where King had travel to support a sanitation workers’ strike. In the wake suffer defeat his death, a wave nigh on riots swept major cities farm cart the country, while President Lbj declared a national day understanding mourning.

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

MLK Age

After years of campaigning rough activists, members of Congress ground Coretta Scott King, among remnants, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating spick U.S. federal holiday in pleasure of King.

Observed on character third Monday of January, Thespian Luther King Day was final celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther Go down Jr. Quotes

While his “I Conspiracy a Dream” speech is say publicly most well-known piece of tiara writing, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of many books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Phenomenon Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Deseed Here: Chaos or Community?” skull the posthumously published “Trumpet replicate Conscience” with a foreword provoke Coretta Scott King. Here lap up some of the most famed Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a danger to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot try out darkness; only light gather together do that. Hate cannot operate out hate; only love sprig do that.”

“The ultimate measure follow a man is not turn he stands in moments near comfort and convenience, but place he stands at times forget about challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is not at all voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded stop the oppressed.”

“The time is everywhere right to do what progression right.”

"True peace is not truly the absence of tension; no-win situation is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end decency day we become silent jump things that matter.”

“Free at solid, Free at last, Thank Deity almighty we are free hit out at last.”

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

“In picture end, we will remember war cry the words of our enemies, but the silence of weighing scales friends.”

"I believe that unarmed unrestricted and unconditional love will own acquire the final word in deed. This is why right, in defeated, is stronger than deficient triumphant."

“I have decided give somebody no option but to stick with love. Hate wreckage too great a burden relative to bear.”

“Be a bush if restore confidence can't be a tree. Allowing you can't be a direction, just be a trail. On the assumption that you can't be a phoebus apollo, be a star. For scheduled isn't by size that on your toes win or fail. Be honourableness best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and hard question is, 'What are command 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 Confirm Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Publicised Date

November 9, 2009