MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Martin Luther King Jr. was the second born to pastor Martin Luther King Sr. and former schoolteacher Alberta Williams King in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. King attended segregated public schools and went on to study medicine and law at Morehouse College. However, he ultimately decided to join the ministry and pursue degrees in theology. While in Boston earning his doctorate in systematic theology, King met Coretta Scott, a singer studying at the New England Conservatory of Music, and the two wed in 1953. The couple settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where King became the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, and they had four children.
The city was highly segregated, and after the family had been living in Montgomery for almost a year, it became the center of the struggle for civil rights in America. A black woman, Rosa Parks, refused to give up her bus seat for a white man and was arrested. A bus boycott was implemented by activists in result of this, and Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen as the protest’s leader and spokesman. The boycott was a success.
Soon after, King and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was a group committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolence. As President of the conference, King traveled often and in 1960, his family moved to Atlanta. There, King and his colleagues continued to play key roles in civil rights battles. King was arrested for his involvement in the Birmingham campaign of 1963, and there he wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which addressed a group of white clergymen who criticized his tactics.
Later in the year, King organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which was a peaceful rally to show the injustices African Americans faced across the country. The march had over 200,000 participants and was where King gave his most famous address, the “I Have a Dream” speech. King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave his speech. He was later named Man of the Year by TIME magazine and became the youngest person ever to be awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize.
King’s popularity caused a stir in 1965 when violence broke out between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Alabama. The events that happened in Selma deepened problems between King and young radicals. On April 4, 1968, King was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis. In 1963, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill establishing a U.S. federal holiday in honor of King.
The city was highly segregated, and after the family had been living in Montgomery for almost a year, it became the center of the struggle for civil rights in America. A black woman, Rosa Parks, refused to give up her bus seat for a white man and was arrested. A bus boycott was implemented by activists in result of this, and Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen as the protest’s leader and spokesman. The boycott was a success.
Soon after, King and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was a group committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolence. As President of the conference, King traveled often and in 1960, his family moved to Atlanta. There, King and his colleagues continued to play key roles in civil rights battles. King was arrested for his involvement in the Birmingham campaign of 1963, and there he wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which addressed a group of white clergymen who criticized his tactics.
Later in the year, King organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which was a peaceful rally to show the injustices African Americans faced across the country. The march had over 200,000 participants and was where King gave his most famous address, the “I Have a Dream” speech. King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave his speech. He was later named Man of the Year by TIME magazine and became the youngest person ever to be awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize.
King’s popularity caused a stir in 1965 when violence broke out between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Alabama. The events that happened in Selma deepened problems between King and young radicals. On April 4, 1968, King was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis. In 1963, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill establishing a U.S. federal holiday in honor of King.