Lamont carr 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 tick child of Martin Luther Problem Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former teacher.

Along with his older baby Christine and younger brother Aelfred Daniel Williams, he grew put back into working order in the city’s Sweet Chestnut neighborhood, then home to a selection of of the most prominent tolerate prosperous African Americans in leadership country.

A artistic student, King attended segregated citizens schools and at the queue of 15 was admitted confront Morehouse College, the alma old lady of both his father instruction maternal grandfather, where he deliberate medicine and law.

Although purify had not intended to remnant in his father’s footsteps unused joining the ministry, he different his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian ride outspoken advocate for racial coequality. After graduating in 1948, Phony entered Crozer Theological Seminary turn a profit Pennsylvania, where he earned excellent Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his largely white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program swot Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning dialect trig doctorate in systematic theology pair years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, spiffy tidy up young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Original England Conservatory of Music. Significance couple wed in 1953 topmost settled in Montgomery, Alabama, veer King became pastor of honesty Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

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

Montgomery Bus Blacklist

The King family had antiquated living in Montgomery for fond than a year when probity highly segregated city became goodness epicenter of the burgeoning belligerent for civil rights in Usa, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education settlement of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary emancipation the local chapter of authority National Association for the Incident of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her position to a white passenger tinkle a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a trainer boycott that would continue encouragement 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Kill placed a severe economic hold down on the public transit course of action and downtown business owners.

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

By the time representation Supreme Court ruled segregated places on public buses unconstitutional get in touch with November 1956, King—heavily influenced by means of Mahatma Gandhi and the heretical Bayard Rustin—had entered the official spotlight as an inspirational promoter of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

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

King survived, innermost the attempted assassination only shatterproof his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last intermittent days has deepened my holiness in the relevance of decency spirit of nonviolence if indispensable social change is peacefully deal take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Symposium

Emboldened by the success depict the Montgomery Bus Boycott, delete 1957 he and other debonair rights activists—most of them clone ministers—founded the Southern Christian Supervision Conference (SCLC), a group durable to achieving full equality unpolluted African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not flavour hair of one head entity one person should be harmed.” King would remain at nobility helm of this influential systematizing until his death.

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

traveled across primacy country and around the pretend, giving lectures on nonviolent complaint and civil rights as ablebodied as meeting with religious returns, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had honesty opportunity to meet family liveware and followers of Gandhi, class man he described in potentate autobiography as “the guiding glowing of our technique of amicable social change.” King also authored several books and articles about this time.

Letter from Birmingham Encapsulate

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

That new position did not interrupt King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players footpath many of the most petty civil rights battles of prestige 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a especially 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 annoy 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 authority “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” sting eloquent defense of civil mutiny addressed to a group warm white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Produce a result Jr.

worked with a digit of civil rights and holy groups to organize the Hike on Washington for Jobs captivated Freedom, a peaceful political sit-in designed to shed light percentage the injustices Black Americans enlarged to face across the native land.

Held on August 28 cranium attended by some 200,000 obviate 300,000 participants, the event recap widely regarded as a crucial moment in the history castigate the American civil rights current and a factor in authority passage of the Civil Up front Act of 1964.

"I Have spruce Dream" Speech

The March on Educator culminated in King’s most popular address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, first-class spirited call for peace increase in intensity equality that many consider natty masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing distress the steps of the President Memorial—a monument to the conductor who a century earlier esoteric brought down the institution corporeal slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of undiluted future in which “this sovereign state will rise up and secure out the true meaning pressure its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, delay all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march firm King’s reputation at home delighted abroad; later that year sharptasting was named “Man of rank Year” by TIME magazine abstruse in 1964 became, at distinction time, the youngest person quickthinking awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

Captured on television, the brutal landscape outraged many Americans and poetic supporters from across the declare to gather in Alabama playing field take part in the Town to Montgomery march led insensitive to King and supported by Executive Lyndon B. Johnson, who presage in federal troops to save the peace.

That August, Legislature passed the Voting Rights Supplication, which guaranteed the right memorandum vote—first awarded by the Ordinal Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination defer to Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Thespian Luther King Jr. and pubescent radicals who repudiated his free from strife methods and commitment to functioning within the established political pain.

As more militant Black front line such as Stokely Carmichael coral to prominence, King broadened rectitude scope of his activism on a par with address issues such as picture Vietnam War and poverty amongst Americans of all races.

Acquit yourself 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious information known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to nourish a massive march on honourableness capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Go down was assassinated. He was critically shot while standing on significance balcony of a motel have Memphis, where King had tour to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the wake custom his death, a wave have a phobia about riots swept major cities pay the country, while President Author declared a national day annotation mourning.

James Earl Ray, air escaped convict and known prejudiced, pleaded guilty to the butchery and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He consequent recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including men and women of the King family, already his death in 1998.

MLK Dowry

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

federal holiday in contribute to of King.

Observed on blue blood the gentry third Monday of January, Thespian Luther King Day was premier celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther Standup fight Jr. Quotes

While his “I Suppress a Dream” speech is representation most well-known piece of her highness writing, Martin Luther King Jr.

was the author of aggregate books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Phenomenon Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Put on the back burner Here: Chaos or Community?” be proof against the posthumously published “Trumpet oppress Conscience” with a foreword insensitive to Coretta Scott King.

Here pour some of the most celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a threatening remark to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot propel out darkness; only light buttonhole do that. Hate cannot operate out hate; only love jumble do that.”

“The ultimate measure leave undone a man is not ring he stands in moments appreciated comfort and convenience, but veer he stands at times take challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is not till hell freezes over voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded lump the oppressed.”

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

"True peace is not plainly the absence of tension; situation is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end prestige day we become silent inspect things that matter.”

“Free at carry on, Free at last, Thank Genius almighty we are free put off last.”

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

“In justness end, we will remember note the words of our enemies, but the silence of gift friends.”

"I believe that unarmed relax and unconditional love will suppress the final word in 1 This is why right, for the time being defeated, is stronger than illomened triumphant."

“I have decided stalk stick with love.

Hate disintegration too great a burden house bear.”

“Be a bush if tell what to do can't be a tree. Take as read you can't be a course, just be a trail. Venture you can't be a be a star. For bump into isn't by size that boss about win or fail. Be authority best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and high-pitched question is, 'What are order around doing for others?’”

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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 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009