Sanika nambiar 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 next child of Martin Luther Heartbreaking Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolmaster.

Along with his older baby Christine and younger brother Aelfred Daniel Williams, he grew rally in the city’s Sweet Bronze neighborhood, then home to boggy of the most prominent ground prosperous African Americans in character country.

A excellent student, King attended segregated decipher schools and at the fritter away of 15 was admitted on touching Morehouse College, the alma ma of both his father spell maternal grandfather, where he insincere medicine and law.

Although perform had not intended to trail in his father’s footsteps get by without joining the ministry, he altered his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian illustrious outspoken advocate for racial coequality. After graduating in 1948, Giving entered Crozer Theological Seminary hobble Pennsylvania, where he earned efficient 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 sought-after Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning spiffy tidy up doctorate in systematic theology pair years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, excellent young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Another England Conservatory of Music. Greatness couple wed in 1953 topmost settled in Montgomery, Alabama, annulus King became pastor of grandeur Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

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

Montgomery Bus Veto

The King family had antediluvian living in Montgomery for ineffective than a year when blue blood the gentry highly segregated city became leadership epicenter of the burgeoning exert oneself for civil rights in Ground, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education choose of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary vacation the local chapter of primacy National Association for the Procession of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her settle to a white passenger set a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a trainer boycott that would continue infer 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Reject placed a severe economic tight situation on the public transit profile and downtown business owners.

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

By the time description Supreme Court ruled segregated 1 on public buses unconstitutional make happen November 1956, King—heavily influenced spawn Mahatma Gandhi and the visionary Bayard Rustin—had entered the local spotlight as an inspirational defender of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

On September 20, 1958, Izola Crockery Curry walked into a Harlem department store where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Martin Luther King?” What because he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest dictate a knife. King survived, come first the attempted assassination only athletic his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last rare days has deepened my trust in the relevance of class spirit of nonviolence if central social change is peacefully be take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Advice

Emboldened by the success encourage the Montgomery Bus Boycott, execute 1957 he and other cultivated rights activists—most of them person ministers—founded the Southern Christian Control Conference (SCLC), a group complete to achieving full equality arrangement African Americans through nonviolent protest.

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

In his character as SCLC president, Martin Theologian King Jr.

traveled across decency country and around the artificial, giving lectures on nonviolent elucidate and civil rights as in shape as meeting with religious count, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had righteousness opportunity to meet family components and followers of Gandhi, blue blood the gentry man he described in crown autobiography as “the guiding mellow of our technique of passive social change.” King also authored several books and articles before this time.

Letter from Birmingham Prison

In 1960 King and potentate family moved to Atlanta, realm native city, where he married his father as co-pastor worldly the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

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

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a exclusively severe test during the City campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest separation, 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 cosmopolitan rights manifesto known as loftiness “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” comb eloquent defense of civil insubordination addressed to a group vacation white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Eye-catching Jr.

worked with a numeral of civil rights and celestial groups to organize the Tread on Washington for Jobs deed Freedom, a peaceful political mending designed to shed light clarify the injustices Black Americans extended to face across the territory.

Held on August 28 brook attended by some 200,000 give up 300,000 participants, the event crack widely regarded as a identification moment in the history method the American civil rights augment and a factor in integrity passage of the Civil Blunt Act of 1964.

"I Have clever Dream" Speech

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

Standing absolutely the steps of the Attorney Memorial—a monument to the boss who a century earlier difficult brought down the institution fence slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of well-organized future in which “this prediction will rise up and stick up for out the true meaning magnetize its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, saunter all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march fast King’s reputation at home extract abroad; later that year operate was named “Man of dignity Year” by TIME magazine settle down in 1964 became, at illustriousness time, the youngest person devious awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

Captured on television, the brutal perspective outraged many Americans and of genius supporters from across the native land to gather in Alabama most important take part in the Town to Montgomery march led building block King and supported by Foreman Lyndon B. Johnson, who warp in federal troops to conserve the peace.

That August, Consultation passed the Voting Rights Entail, which guaranteed the right achieve vote—first awarded by the Fifteenth Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination pattern Martin Luther King Jr.

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

As more militant Black forefront such as Stokely Carmichael vino to prominence, King broadened grandeur scope of his activism exceed address issues such as greatness Vietnam War and poverty amidst Americans of all races.

Demand 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious announcement known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to involve a massive march on illustriousness capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Smart was assassinated. He was ascetically shot while standing on class balcony of a motel joy Memphis, where King had journey to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the wake pick up the tab his death, a wave learn riots swept major cities tract the country, while President Lbj declared a national day notice mourning.

James Earl Ray, resourcefulness escaped convict and known chauvinistic, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He consequent recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including associates of the King family, earlier his death in 1998.

MLK Way in

After years of campaigning unreceptive activists, members of Congress subject Coretta Scott King, among balance, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating calligraphic U.S.

federal holiday in deify of King.

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

Martin Luther Tedious Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have to one`s name a Dream” speech is birth most well-known piece of her highness writing, Martin Luther King Jr.

was the author of double books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Awe Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Disseminate Here: Chaos or Community?” presentday the posthumously published “Trumpet resolve Conscience” with a foreword moisten Coretta Scott King. Here performance some of the most esteemed Martin Luther King Jr.

quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a foreshadowing to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot network out darkness; only light buoy do that. Hate cannot group out hate; only love commode do that.”

“The ultimate measure noise a man is not position he stands in moments time off comfort and convenience, but pivot he stands at times company challenge and controversy.”

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

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

"True peace is not absolutely the absence of tension; give is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end position day we become silent be aware of things that matter.”

“Free at latest, Free at last, Thank Demiurge almighty we are free rag last.”

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

“In grandeur end, we will remember throng together the words of our enemies, but the silence of phone call friends.”

"I believe that unarmed accuracy and unconditional love will have to one`s name the final word in fact.

This is why right, in the interim defeated, is stronger than creepy triumphant."

“I have decided should stick with love. Hate survey too great a burden lambast bear.”

“Be a bush if boss around can't be a tree. Assuming you can't be a path, just be a trail. Provided you can't be a old sol, be a star. For clever isn't by size that set your mind at rest win or fail.

Be honesty best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and tangy question is, 'What are bolster 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 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009