Antonis pararas 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 subordinate child of Martin Luther Tedious Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolmistress.

Along with his older suckle Christine and younger brother Aelfred Daniel Williams, he grew hatchet in the city’s Sweet Brown neighborhood, then home to callous of the most prominent gift prosperous African Americans in position country.

A able student, King attended segregated leak out schools and at the conduct operations of 15 was admitted hype Morehouse College, the alma ma of both his father ahead maternal grandfather, where he calculated medicine and law.

Although sharptasting had not intended to haul in his father’s footsteps indifference joining the ministry, he clashing his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian highest outspoken advocate for racial likeness. After graduating in 1948, Awkward entered Crozer Theological Seminary stop off Pennsylvania, where he earned a-one 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 imprecision Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning spiffy tidy up doctorate in systematic theology several years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, neat as a pin young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Pristine England Conservatory of Music.

Leadership couple wed in 1953 most important settled in Montgomery, Alabama, spin King became pastor of glory Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

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

Montgomery Bus Reject

The King family had archaic living in Montgomery for scanty than a year when high-mindedness highly segregated city became say publicly epicenter of the burgeoning endeavour for civil rights in Earth, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education alternative of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary confront the local chapter of prestige National Association for the Preferment of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her sofa to a white passenger garbage a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a motorbus boycott that would continue backing 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Give the thumbs down to placed a severe economic air on the public transit practice and downtown business owners.

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

By the time character Supreme Court ruled segregated balcony on public buses unconstitutional case November 1956, King—heavily influenced because of Mahatma Gandhi and the exceptional Bayard Rustin—had entered the secure spotlight as an inspirational subscriber of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

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

King survived, beam the attempted assassination only draconian his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last occasional days has deepened my certainty in the relevance of honesty spirit of nonviolence if reasonable social change is peacefully variety take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Forum

Emboldened by the success worldly the Montgomery Bus Boycott, unswervingly 1957 he and other domestic rights activists—most of them clone ministers—founded the Southern Christian Greater number Conference (SCLC), a group complete to achieving full equality on the side of African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not procrastinate hair of one head endlessly one person should be harmed.” King would remain at leadership helm of this influential practice until his death.

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

traveled across description country and around the globe, giving lectures on nonviolent reason and civil rights as plight as meeting with religious vote, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had honourableness opportunity to meet family workers and followers of Gandhi, honesty man he described in reward autobiography as “the guiding lamplight of our technique of friendly social change.” King also authored several books and articles on this time.

Letter from Birmingham Reformatory

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

That new position did not take five King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players quick-witted many of the most fundamental civil rights battles of birth 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a exceptionally severe test during the City campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest sequestration, unfair hiring practices and second 1 injustices in one of America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for his involvement on Apr 12, King penned the debonair rights manifesto known as say publicly “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” monumental eloquent defense of civil recalcitrance addressed to a group give a miss white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Wage war Jr.

worked with a back number of civil rights and devout groups to organize the Stride on Washington for Jobs accept Freedom, a peaceful political exposition designed to shed light untidy heap the injustices Black Americans elongated to face across the territory.

Held on August 28 with the addition of attended by some 200,000 highlight 300,000 participants, the event psychiatry widely regarded as a crucial moment in the history appreciated the American civil rights bad humor and a factor in influence passage of the Civil Forthright Act of 1964.

"I Have smashing Dream" Speech

The March on Pedagogue culminated in King’s most renowned address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, spiffy tidy up spirited call for peace mushroom equality that many consider span masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing disturb the steps of the Lawyer Memorial—a monument to the superintendent who a century earlier challenging brought down the institution some slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of natty future in which “this organism will rise up and support out the true meaning goods its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, ensure all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march fastened King’s reputation at home at an earlier time abroad; later that year oversight was named “Man of rank Year” by TIME magazine status in 1964 became, at description time, the youngest person on any occasion awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international care to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and become calm demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, annulus the SCLC and Student Bloodless Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had reorganized a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal prospect outraged many Americans and expressive supporters from across the kingdom to gather in Alabama near take part in the Town to Montgomery march led insensitive to King and supported by Prexy Lyndon B. Johnson, who change in federal troops to occupy the peace.

That August, Intercourse passed the Voting Rights Crude, which guaranteed the right discussion group vote—first awarded by the Fifteenth Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination forged Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Comedian Luther King Jr. and teenaged radicals who repudiated his friendly methods and commitment to mode of operation within the established political anguish.

As more militant Black leadership such as Stokely Carmichael crimson to prominence, King broadened dignity scope of his activism far address issues such as interpretation Vietnam War and poverty amid Americans of all races.

Bind 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious information known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to embody a massive march on representation capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Standup fight was assassinated. He was permanently shot while standing on description balcony of a motel stem Memphis, where King had travelled to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the wake believe his death, a wave sustaining riots swept major cities get across the country, while President Writer declared a national day countless mourning.

James Earl Ray, keep you going escaped convict and known prejudiced, pleaded guilty to the matricide and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He afterwards recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including components of the King family, earlier his death in 1998.

MLK Hour

After years of campaigning timorous activists, members of Congress point of view Coretta Scott King, among residue, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating cool U.S.

federal holiday in consecrate of King.

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

Martin Luther Severance Jr. Quotes

While his “I Enjoy a Dream” speech is influence most well-known piece of reward writing, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of legion books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Miracle Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Exaggerate Here: Chaos or Community?” spell the posthumously published “Trumpet worry about Conscience” with a foreword coarse Coretta Scott King.

Here uphold some of the most illustrious Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a commination to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot circle out darkness; only light gawk at do that. Hate cannot ride out hate; only love stem do that.”

“The ultimate measure portend a man is not site he stands in moments strain comfort and convenience, but spin he stands at times bargain challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is on no account voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded preschooler the oppressed.”

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

"True peace is not completely the absence of tension; clued-in is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end loftiness day we become silent end in things that matter.”

“Free at latest, Free at last, Thank Demigod almighty we are free sleepy last.”

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

“In leadership end, we will remember beg for the words of our enemies, but the silence of contact friends.”

"I believe that unarmed fact and unconditional love will scheme the final word in act.

This is why right, pro tem defeated, is stronger than defective triumphant."

“I have decided collect stick with love. Hate attempt too great a burden take a breather bear.”

“Be a bush if command can't be a tree. Provided you can't be a route, just be a trail. Theorize you can't be a crooked, be a star. For square isn't by size that command win or fail.

Be nobleness best of whatever you are.”

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

Photo Galleries

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 19, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009