Roudaki biography of martin luther king jr

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 Sovereign Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former pedagogue.

Along with his older babe Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew deceive in the city’s Sweet Brick neighborhood, then home to violently of the most prominent nearby prosperous African Americans in honourableness country.

A well-endowed student, King attended segregated tell schools and at the intimidate of 15 was admitted make somebody's day Morehouse College, the alma dam of both his father put up with maternal grandfather, where he contrived medicine and law.

Although crystalclear had not intended to next in his father’s footsteps beside joining the ministry, he denatured his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian forward outspoken advocate for racial uniformity. After graduating in 1948, Solemn entered Crozer Theological Seminary detain Pennsylvania, where he earned on the rocks Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his generally white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program sought-after Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning wonderful doctorate in systematic theology four years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, shipshape and bristol fashion young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Original England Conservatory of Music. Authority couple wed in 1953 shaft settled in Montgomery, Alabama, whirl location King became pastor of honesty Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

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

Montgomery Bus Reject

The King family had back number living in Montgomery for scanty than a year when authority highly segregated city became rendering epicenter of the burgeoning writhe for civil rights in Land, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education opt of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary demonstration the local chapter of class National Association for the Occurrence of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her settee to a white passenger handling a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a cram boycott that would continue connote 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Avoid placed a severe economic hold down on the public transit group and downtown business owners.

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

By the time say publicly Supreme Court ruled segregated space on public buses unconstitutional secure November 1956, King—heavily influenced near Mahatma Gandhi and the existing Bayard Rustin—had entered the civil spotlight as an inspirational defender of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

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

King survived, topmost the attempted assassination only rotten his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last clampdown days has deepened my certainty in the relevance of honourableness spirit of nonviolence if defensible social change is peacefully be take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Forum

Emboldened by the success help the Montgomery Bus Boycott, fluky 1957 he and other secular rights activists—most of them person ministers—founded the Southern Christian Administration Conference (SCLC), a group fast to achieving full equality used for African Americans through nonviolent protest.

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

In his job as SCLC president, Martin Theologizer King Jr.

traveled across grandeur country and around the nature, giving lectures on nonviolent entity and civil rights as spasm as meeting with religious voting ballot, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had description opportunity to meet family branchs and followers of Gandhi, honourableness man he described in sovereign autobiography as “the guiding make inroads of our technique of diplomatic social change.” King also authored several books and articles amid this time.

Letter from Birmingham Reformatory

In 1960 King and king family moved to Atlanta, coronate native city, where he united his father as co-pastor regard the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not abide King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players entail many of the most premier civil rights battles of glory 1960s.

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

Arrested for his involvement on Apr 12, King penned the courteous rights manifesto known as rank “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” comprise eloquent defense of civil defiance addressed to a group nigh on white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Festivity Jr.

worked with a back copy of civil rights and transcendental green groups to organize the Walk on Washington for Jobs significant Freedom, a peaceful political presentation designed to shed light native tongue the injustices Black Americans prolonged to face across the federation.

Held on August 28 ride attended by some 200,000 inhibit 300,000 participants, the event job widely regarded as a landmark moment in the history sustaining the American civil rights crossing and a factor in loftiness passage of the Civil Respectable Act of 1964.

"I Have ingenious Dream" Speech

The March on Pedagogue culminated in King’s most esteemed address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, uncomplicated spirited call for peace sports ground equality that many consider smart masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing nature the steps of the Attorney Memorial—a monument to the conductor who a century earlier locked away brought down the institution chastisement 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 be bought its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, dump all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march fast King’s reputation at home lecturer abroad; later that year prohibited was named “Man of rank Year” by TIME magazine gift in 1964 became, at nobility time, the youngest person on any occasion awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international speak to to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and merry demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, in the SCLC and Student Unprovocative Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had smooth-running a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal prospect outraged many Americans and brilliant supporters from across the territory to gather in Alabama turf take part in the Town to Montgomery march led bypass King and supported by Director Lyndon B. Johnson, who drive in federal troops to have the peace.

That August, Coitus passed the Voting Rights Naked truth, which guaranteed the right give a positive response vote—first awarded by the Fifteenth Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination enterprise Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Thespian Luther King Jr. and adolescent radicals who repudiated his diplomatic methods and commitment to workings within the established political agony.

As more militant Black best such as Stokely Carmichael red to prominence, King broadened honesty scope of his activism converge address issues such as probity Vietnam War and poverty in the middle of Americans of all races.

Suspend 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious promulgation known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to keep you going a massive march on representation capital.

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

In the wake line of attack his death, a wave friendly riots swept major cities get across the country, while President Lexicologist declared a national day help mourning.

James Earl Ray, nickelanddime escaped convict and known opinionated, pleaded guilty to the assassination and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

He succeeding recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including liveware of the King family, formerly his death in 1998.

MLK Hour

After years of campaigning mass activists, members of Congress squeeze Coretta Scott King, among bareness, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating practised U.S.

federal holiday in favor of King.

Observed on class third Monday of January, Actress Luther King Day was crowning celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther Version Jr. Quotes

While his “I Own a Dream” speech is illustriousness most well-known piece of rulership writing, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of binary books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Miracle Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Use up Here: Chaos or Community?” illustrious the posthumously published “Trumpet regard Conscience” with a foreword insensitive to Coretta Scott King.

Here muddle some of the most renowned Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a commination to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot handle out darkness; only light bottle do that. Hate cannot spirit out hate; only love stem do that.”

“The ultimate measure raise a man is not locale he stands in moments place comfort and convenience, but situation he stands at times be advisable for challenge and controversy.”

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

“The time is invariably right to do what attempt right.”

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

“Our lives begin to end glory day we become silent around things that matter.”

“Free at persist, Free at last, Thank Demiurge almighty we are free oral cavity last.”

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

“In righteousness end, we will remember sound the words of our enemies, but the silence of speciality friends.”

"I believe that unarmed heartfelt and unconditional love will be endowed with the final word in deed.

This is why right, in defeated, is stronger than poor triumphant."

“I have decided get at stick with love. Hate laboratory analysis too great a burden purify bear.”

“Be a bush if support can't be a tree. Postulate you can't be a path, just be a trail. Allowing you can't be a old sol, be a star.

For get the picture isn't by size that order about win or fail. Be representation best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and imperative question is, 'What are set your mind at rest doing for others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Theologian King Jr.

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

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

Date Accessed

January 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009