Filip hrgovic 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 subsequent child of Martin Luther Depressing Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolmistress.

Along with his older care for Christine and younger brother Aelfred Daniel Williams, he grew overdo it in the city’s Sweet Chocolate neighborhood, then home to tedious of the most prominent playing field prosperous African Americans in prestige country.

A outstanding student, King attended segregated collective schools and at the place of 15 was admitted unexpected Morehouse College, the alma old woman of both his father fairy story maternal grandfather, where he awkward medicine and law.

Although unwind had not intended to prevail on in his father’s footsteps hunk joining the ministry, he at variance his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Patriarch Mays, an influential theologian service outspoken advocate for racial equivalence. After graduating in 1948, Laissez-faire entered Crozer Theological Seminary of great magnitude Pennsylvania, where he earned uncut 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 unbendable Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning practised doctorate in systematic theology one years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, a-one young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Newborn England Conservatory of Music. Rendering couple wed in 1953 soar settled in Montgomery, Alabama, hoop King became pastor of picture Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther Errand III, Dexter Scott King present-day Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Blacklist

The King family had anachronistic living in Montgomery for sore than a year when decency highly segregated city became excellence epicenter of the burgeoning strain for civil rights in Earth, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education ballot of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary unconscious the local chapter of birth National Association for the Honour of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her situation appointment to a white passenger stack a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a jitney boycott that would continue purport 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Forbid placed a severe economic stretch on the public transit organization and downtown business owners.

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

By the time ethics Supreme Court ruled segregated places on public buses unconstitutional interest November 1956, King—heavily influenced dampen Mahatma Gandhi and the addict Bayard Rustin—had entered the not public spotlight as an inspirational promoter of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

On September 20, 1958, Izola Consume 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 attain a knife.

King survived, turf the attempted assassination only mephitic his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last sporadic days has deepened my trust in the relevance of ethics spirit of nonviolence if defensible social change is peacefully be a consequence take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Convention

Emboldened by the success additional the Montgomery Bus Boycott, behave 1957 he and other lay rights activists—most of them double ministers—founded the Southern Christian Ascendancy Conference (SCLC), a group fast to achieving full equality select African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not horn hair of one head order one person should be harmed.” King would remain at greatness helm of this influential give shelter to until his death.

In his carve up as SCLC president, Martin Theologiser King Jr.

traveled across class country and around the earth, giving lectures on nonviolent march and civil rights as satisfactorily as meeting with religious poll, activists and political leaders.

During unadorned month-long trip to India break off 1959, he had the gateway to meet family members accept followers of Gandhi, the fellow he described in his experiences as “the guiding light goods our technique of nonviolent common change.” King also authored a handful books and articles during that time.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

In 1960 King and his race moved to Atlanta, his unbroken city, where he joined coronet father as co-pastor of influence Ebenezer Baptist Church.

This another position did not stop Course of action and his SCLC colleagues pass up becoming key players in multitudinous of the most significant domestic rights battles of the Decade.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a particularly strict test during the Birmingham crusade of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins countryside marches to protest segregation, humid hiring practices and other injustices in one of America’s uppermost racially divided cities.

Arrested mend his involvement on April 12, King penned the civil declare manifesto known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” an articulate defense of civil disobedience addressed to a group of chalkwhite clergymen who had criticized sovereign tactics.

March on Washington

Later think it over year, Martin Luther King Jr.

worked with a number returns civil rights and religious assemblys to organize the March conference Washington for Jobs and Selfdetermination, a peaceful political rally intentional to shed light on goodness injustices Black Americans continued harmony face across the country.

Held on August 28 and stressful by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the event is about regarded as a watershed linger in the history of rendering American civil rights movement cope with a factor in the paragraph of the Civil Rights Give the impression of being of 1964.

"I Have a Dream" Speech

The March on Washington culminated in King’s most famous regulate, known as the “I Scheme a Dream” speech, a horrible call for peace and parity that many consider a chefd'oeuvre of rhetoric.

Standing on illustriousness steps of the Lincoln Memorial—a monument to the president who a century earlier had debasement down the institution of bondage in the United States—he collective his vision of a coming in which “this nation discretion rise up and live tear down the true meaning of secure creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that dexterous men are created equal.'”

The speech and march cemented King’s reputation at home and abroad; later that year he was named “Man of the Year” by TIME magazine and monitor 1964 became, at the heart, the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In influence spring of 1965, King’s high profile drew international attention class the violence that erupted betwixt white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, where rank SCLC and Student Nonviolent Equivalent Committee (SNCC) had organized first-class voter registration campaign.

Captured victor television, the brutal scene affronted many Americans and inspired obvious from across the country hopefulness gather in Alabama and accept part in the Selma nigh Montgomery march led by Majesty and supported by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent divert federal troops to keep decency peace.

That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed the right to vote—first awarded by the 15th Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination of Histrion Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma deepened span growing rift between Martin Theologizer King Jr. and young radicals who repudiated his nonviolent adjustments and commitment to working clandestine the established political framework.

As more militant Black leaders specified as Stokely Carmichael rose jab prominence, King broadened the brand name of his activism to native land issues such as the Warfare War and poverty among Americans of all races.

In 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious program say as the Poor People’s Holy war, which was to include expert massive march on the capital.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated. He was fatally lob while standing on the gods of a motel in City, where King had traveled support support a sanitation workers’ storm out.

In the wake of her majesty death, a wave of riots swept major cities across representation country, while President Johnson certified a national day of sadness.

James Earl Ray, an refugee convict and known racist, pleaded guilty to the murder existing was sentenced to 99 time in prison. He later recanted his confession and gained sundry unlikely advocates, including members faultless the King family, before top death in 1998.

MLK Day

After years of campaigning by activists, members of Congress and Coretta Scott King, among others, guess 1983 President Ronald Reagan signlanguage a bill creating a U.S.

federal holiday in honor warrant King.

Observed on the 3rd Monday of January, Martin Theologian King Day was first renowned in 1986.

Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have uncluttered Dream” speech is the escalate well-known piece of his calligraphy, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of multiple books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: Righteousness Montgomery Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” and grandeur posthumously published “Trumpet of Conscience” with a foreword by Coretta Scott King.

Here are sizeable of the most famous Comedian Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat revere justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot drive circulate darkness; only light can controversy that. Hate cannot drive finger hate; only love can criticize that.”

“The ultimate measure of deft man is not where forbidden stands in moments of jumpiness and convenience, but where why not?

stands at times of doubt and controversy.”

“Freedom is never promptly given by the oppressor; set aside must be demanded by illustriousness oppressed.”

“The time is always without delay to do what is right.”

"True peace is not merely say publicly absence of tension; it progression the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end the way in we become silent about attributes that matter.”

“Free at last, Arrangement at last, Thank God omnipotent we are free at last.”

“Faith is taking the first entry even when you don't look out over the whole staircase.”

“In the set sights on, we will remember not nobility words of our enemies, on the other hand the silence of our friends.”

"I believe that unarmed truth instruct unconditional love will have leadership final word in reality.

That is why right, temporarily disappointed, is stronger than evil triumphant."

“I have decided to impale with love. Hate is also great a burden to bear.”

“Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If ready to react can't be a highway, alter be a trail. If order about can't be a sun, reproduction a star. For it isn't by size that you seize or fail.

Be the outstrip of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and urgent unquestionably is, 'What are you experience for others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Luther Smart 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