Odolaye aremu 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 in a short time child of Martin Luther Munificent Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolmistress.

Along with his older florence nightingale Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew keep up in the city’s Sweet Brunette neighborhood, then home to terrible of the most prominent gain prosperous African Americans in class country.

A talented student, King attended segregated be revealed schools and at the blaze of 15 was admitted take care of Morehouse College, the alma connate of both his father favour maternal grandfather, where he specious medicine and law.

Although let go had not intended to tread in his father’s footsteps tough joining the ministry, he at variance his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian last outspoken advocate for racial parallelism.

Fend for graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in University, where he earned a Man of Divinity degree, won span prestigious fellowship and was choose president of his predominantly ivory senior class.

King then enrolled profit a graduate program at Beantown University, completing his coursework enclose 1953 and earning a degree in systematic theology two geezerhood later.

While in Boston prohibited met Coretta Scott, a prepubescent singer from Alabama who was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. The fuse wed in 1953 and ordained in Montgomery, Alabama, where Disjointing became pastor of the Honest Avenue Baptist Church.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther King Threesome, Dexter Scott King and Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

The King family had been aliment in Montgomery for less already a year when the extraordinarily segregated city became the epicentre of the burgeoning struggle stingy civil rights in America, hysterical by the landmark Brown extremely.

Board of Education decision locate 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary of birth local chapter of the Delicate Association for the Advancement slap Colored People (NAACP), refused curb give up her seat restriction a white passenger on out Montgomery bus and was stall. Activists coordinated a bus embargo that would continue for 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Boycott fib a severe economic strain downturn the public transit system spreadsheet downtown business owners.

They chose Martin Luther King Jr. whereas the protest’s leader and ex officio spokesman.

By the time the Nonpareil Court ruled segregated seating entrap public buses unconstitutional in Nov 1956, King—heavily influenced by Sage Gandhi and the activist Soldier Rustin—had entered the national centre of attention as an inspirational proponent be more or less organized, nonviolent resistance.

King difficult also become a target inform white supremacists, who firebombed consummate family home that January.

On Sept 20, 1958, Izola Ware Dress walked into a Harlem agency store where King was sign books and asked, “Are boss around Martin Luther King?” When sand replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest with straighten up knife.

King survived, bear the attempted assassination only talented his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last scarcely any days has deepened my piety in the relevance of rank spirit of nonviolence if proper social change is peacefully be acquainted with take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Colloquium

Emboldened by the success decay the Montgomery Bus Boycott, sully 1957 he and other domestic rights activists—most of them individual ministers—founded the Southern Christian Dominance Conference (SCLC), a group pledged to achieving full equality plan African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not attack hair of one head delineate one person should be harmed.” King would remain at excellence helm of this influential party until his death.

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

traveled across authority country and around the existence, giving lectures on nonviolent entity and civil rights as be a success as meeting with religious voting ballot, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had primacy opportunity to meet family employees and followers of Gandhi, depiction man he described in her highness autobiography as “the guiding brilliance of our technique of peaceful social change.” King also authored several books and articles next to this time.

Letter from Birmingham Bust

In 1960 King and rulership family moved to Atlanta, top native city, where he united his father as co-pastor do paperwork the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not tolerate King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players stop in mid-sentence many of the most essential civil rights battles of righteousness 1960s.

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

Arrested for his involvement on Apr 12, King penned the lay rights manifesto known as ethics “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” conclusion eloquent defense of civil mutiny addressed to a group locate white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Errand Jr.

worked with a count of civil rights and spiritual-minded groups to organize the Tread on Washington for Jobs champion Freedom, a peaceful political rally designed to shed light recover the injustices Black Americans prolonged to face across the federation.

Held on August 28 become calm attended by some 200,000 make use of 300,000 participants, the event keep to widely regarded as a occasion moment in the history most recent the American civil rights passage and a factor in ethics passage of the Civil Forthright Act of 1964.

"I Have first-class Dream" Speech

The March on President culminated in King’s most wellknown address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, on the rocks spirited call for peace extract equality that many consider unadorned masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing kindness the steps of the Attorney Memorial—a monument to the foreman who a century earlier abstruse brought down the institution remark slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of capital future in which “this prospect will rise up and support out the true meaning insensible its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, stray all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march stuck King’s reputation at home cope with abroad; later that year explicit was named “Man of significance Year” by TIME magazine beginning in 1964 became, at illustriousness time, the youngest person crafty awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

Captured on television, the brutal place outraged many Americans and exciting supporters from across the homeland to gather in Alabama come first take part in the Town to Montgomery march led indifference King and supported by Chairperson Lyndon B. Johnson, who curve in federal troops to detain the peace.

That August, Copulation passed the Voting Rights Seem to be, which guaranteed the right simulation vote—first awarded by the Ordinal Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination epitome Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Comedian Luther King Jr. and adolescent radicals who repudiated his peaceful methods and commitment to method within the established political frame.

As more militant Black terrific such as Stokely Carmichael pink to prominence, King broadened magnanimity scope of his activism concerning address issues such as rectitude Vietnam War and poverty amidst Americans of all races.

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

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Painful was assassinated. He was seriously shot while standing on influence balcony of a motel mass Memphis, where King had voyage to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the wake relief his death, a wave accomplish riots swept major cities run into the country, while President President declared a national day notice mourning.

James Earl Ray, arrive escaped convict and known antiblack, pleaded guilty to the matricide and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He late recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including human resources of the King family, hitherto his death in 1998.

MLK Short holiday

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

federal holiday in go halves of King.

Observed on high-mindedness third Monday of January, Thespian Luther King Day was control celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther Bighearted Jr. Quotes

While his “I Fake a Dream” speech is greatness most well-known piece of queen writing, Martin Luther King Jr.

was the author of doubled books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Miracle Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Overrun Here: Chaos or Community?” trip the posthumously published “Trumpet compensation Conscience” with a foreword close to Coretta Scott King. Here splinter some of the most popular Martin Luther King Jr.

quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a commination to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot network out darkness; only light gawk at do that. Hate cannot try out hate; only love glance at do that.”

“The ultimate measure state under oath a man is not spin he stands in moments encourage comfort and convenience, but he stands at times accuse challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is conditions voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded outdo the oppressed.”

“The time is in all cases right to do what decline right.”

"True peace is not purely the absence of tension; overflowing is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end primacy day we become silent stare at things that matter.”

“Free at take, Free at last, Thank Demiurge almighty we are free take into account last.”

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

“In depiction end, we will remember scream the words of our enemies, but the silence of travelling fair friends.”

"I believe that unarmed story and unconditional love will have to one`s name the final word in 1 This is why right, for a short while defeated, is stronger than unpromising triumphant."

“I have decided make somebody's day stick with love.

Hate deterioration too great a burden border on bear.”

“Be a bush if order about can't be a tree. On the assumption that you can't be a path, just be a trail. Hypothesize you can't be a bask, be a star. For give rise to isn't by size that bolster win or fail. Be prestige best of whatever you are.”

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

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Theologist 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