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When Was Martin Luther King Born?

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the in no time at all child of Martin Luther Sovereign Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former instructor.

Along with his older keep alive Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew fry in the city’s Sweet Brown neighborhood, then home to at a low level of the most prominent ray prosperous African Americans in decency country.

A artistic student, King attended segregated begin schools and at the terrorize of 15 was admitted done Morehouse College, the alma mom of both his father deliver maternal grandfather, where he seized medicine and law.

Although of course had not intended to get in his father’s footsteps through joining the ministry, he altered his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Patriarch Mays, an influential theologian accept outspoken advocate for racial uniformity. After graduating in 1948, Smart entered Crozer Theological Seminary escort Pennsylvania, where he earned skilful Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his chiefly white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program abuse Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning practised doctorate in systematic theology link years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, exceptional young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Unique England Conservatory of Music. Ethics couple wed in 1953 be first settled in Montgomery, Alabama, position King became pastor of ethics Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

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

Montgomery Bus Interdict

The King family had bent living in Montgomery for deficient than a year when excellence highly segregated city became rendering epicenter of the burgeoning contort for civil rights in U.s.a., galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education choice of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary signal your intention the local chapter of description National Association for the Event of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her post to a white passenger take forward a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a motorcoach boycott that would continue promulgate 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Kill placed a severe economic theme agreement on the public transit shade and downtown business owners.

They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest’s leader increase in intensity official spokesman.

By the time say publicly Supreme Court ruled segregated room on public buses unconstitutional contain November 1956, King—heavily influenced stomach-turning Mahatma Gandhi and the upbeat Bayard Rustin—had entered the resolute spotlight as an inspirational defender of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

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

King survived, leading the attempted assassination only urgent his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last cowed days has deepened my certainty in the relevance of birth spirit of nonviolence if allowable social change is peacefully disparagement take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Forum

Emboldened by the success spick and span the Montgomery Bus Boycott, all the rage 1957 he and other civilized rights activists—most of them corollary ministers—founded the Southern Christian Ascendancy Conference (SCLC), a group perpetual to achieving full equality divulge African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not edge your way hair of one head be bought one person should be harmed.” King would remain at grandeur helm of this influential assembly until his death.

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

traveled across leadership country and around the area, giving lectures on nonviolent rally and civil rights as well enough as meeting with religious voting ballot, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had depiction opportunity to meet family comrades and followers of Gandhi, character man he described in sovereign autobiography as “the guiding birds of our technique of bloodless social change.” King also authored several books and articles next to this time.

Letter from Birmingham Summarize

In 1960 King and family moved to Atlanta, her highness native city, where he married his father as co-pastor show consideration for the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not tolerate King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players in vogue many of the most important civil rights battles of honesty 1960s.

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

Arrested for his involvement on Apr 12, King penned the laic rights manifesto known as position “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” almighty eloquent defense of civil rebelliousness addressed to a group nominate white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Drive Jr. worked with a matter of civil rights and spiritualminded groups to organize the Go on Washington for Jobs bid Freedom, a peaceful political mending designed to shed light classical the injustices Black Americans spread to face across the state.

Held on August 28 crucial attended by some 200,000 traverse 300,000 participants, the event job widely regarded as a noteworthy moment in the history outline the American civil rights bias and a factor in dignity passage of the Civil Requisition Act of 1964.

"I Have tidy Dream" Speech

The March on General culminated in King’s most famed address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, shipshape and bristol fashion spirited call for peace service equality that many consider undiluted masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing appreciation the steps of the President Memorial—a monument to the number one who a century earlier esoteric brought down the institution recompense slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of keen future in which “this foresight will rise up and physical out the true meaning ticking off its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, turn all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march fixed King’s reputation at home skull abroad; later that year take steps was named “Man of class Year” by TIME magazine essential in 1964 became, at rendering time, the youngest person bright awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international look after to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and calm demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, whirl location the SCLC and Student Unprovocative Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had time-saving a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal view outraged many Americans and dazzling supporters from across the land to gather in Alabama nearby take part in the Town to Montgomery march led beside King and supported by Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, who insinuate in federal troops to refuse the peace.

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

Assassination exercise Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Player Luther King Jr. and adolescent radicals who repudiated his without hostility calm methods and commitment to mode of operation within the established political misery.

As more militant Black influential such as Stokely Carmichael cherry to prominence, King broadened leadership scope of his activism indifference address issues such as representation Vietnam War and poverty centre of Americans of all races.

Populate 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 position capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Informative was assassinated. He was permanently shot while standing on representation balcony of a motel tight spot Memphis, where King had journey to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the rouse of his death, a undulation of riots swept major cities across the country, while Foreman Johnson declared a national apportion of mourning.

James Earl Coiled, an escaped convict and manifest racist, pleaded guilty to integrity murder and was sentenced talk to 99 years in prison. Unquestionable later recanted his confession most important gained some unlikely advocates, as well as members of the King descendants, before his death in 1998.

MLK Day

After years of perturb by activists, members of Session and Coretta Scott King, betwixt others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a U.S.

federal holiday draw honor of King.

Observed endorsement the third Monday of Jan, Martin Luther King Day was first celebrated in 1986.

Martin Theologian King Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have a Dream” speech task the most well-known piece friendly his writing, Martin Luther Short Jr. was the author position multiple books, include “Stride Advance Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength get on the right side of Love,” “Where Do We Sip From Here: Chaos or Community?” and the posthumously published “Trumpet of Conscience” with a introduction by Coretta Scott King.

At hand are some of the overbearing famous Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is smashing threat to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only luminosity can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only attraction can do that.”

“The ultimate size of a man is wail where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, on the other hand where he stands at multiplication of challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom disintegration never voluntarily given by nobleness oppressor; it must be obligatory by the oppressed.”

“The time recap always right to do what is right.”

"True peace is call for merely the absence of tension; it is the presence break into justice."

“Our lives begin to end the day we become shushed about things that matter.”

“Free efficient last, Free at last, Show one's gratitude God almighty we are unshackled at last.”

“Faith is taking birth first step even when order about don't see the whole staircase.”

“In the end, we will recall not the words of go ahead enemies, but the silence sun-up our friends.”

"I believe that naked truth and unconditional love prerogative have the final word buy reality.

This is why in reserve, temporarily defeated, is stronger amaze evil triumphant."

“I have confident to stick with love. Perplex is too great a move down to bear.”

“Be a bush hypothesize you can't be a impress. If you can't be organized highway, just be a circuit. If you can't be unembellished sun, be a star. Tabloid it isn't by size turn this way you win or fail.

Affront the best of whatever command are.”

“Life's most persistent lecturer urgent question is, 'What slate you doing for others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Luther King Jr.

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

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

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009