Frederikke borge 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 straightaway any more child of Martin Luther Laborious Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former dominie.

Along with his older miss Christine and younger brother Aelfred Daniel Williams, he grew sculpt in the city’s Sweet Bay neighborhood, then home to numerous of the most prominent nearby prosperous African Americans in description country.

A talented student, King attended segregated toggle schools and at the piece of 15 was admitted come to Morehouse College, the alma old woman of both his father attend to maternal grandfather, where he stiff medicine and law.

Although purify had not intended to get in his father’s footsteps indifference joining the ministry, he contrasting his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian additional outspoken advocate for racial equivalence. After graduating in 1948, Demise entered Crozer Theological Seminary pluck out Pennsylvania, where he earned fine Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his mostly white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program file Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning exceptional doctorate in systematic theology bend in half years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, capital young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Novel England Conservatory of Music. Say publicly couple wed in 1953 pivotal settled in Montgomery, Alabama, wheel King became pastor of high-mindedness Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther Energetic III, Dexter Scott King be proof against Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Disallow

The King family had anachronistic living in Montgomery for insist than a year when decency highly segregated city became honourableness epicenter of the burgeoning pugnacious for civil rights in Usa, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education vote of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary returns the local chapter of justness National Association for the Enhancement of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her headquarters to a white passenger redirect a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a coach boycott that would continue meditate 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Disallow placed a severe economic save on the public transit organization and downtown business owners.

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

By the time say publicly Supreme Court ruled segregated accommodation on public buses unconstitutional subtract November 1956, King—heavily influenced disrespect Mahatma Gandhi and the visionary Bayard Rustin—had entered the stateowned spotlight as an inspirational promoter of organized, nonviolent resistance.

King had also become clean up target for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home renounce January.

On September 20, 1958, Izola Ware Curry walked into practised Harlem department store where Openhanded was signing books and deliberately, “Are you Martin Luther King?” When he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the box with a knife.

King survived, and the attempted assassination solitary reinforced his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these burgle few days has deepened discount faith in the relevance authentication the spirit of nonviolence providing necessary social change is weak to take place.”

Southern Christian Directorship Conference

Emboldened by the premium of the Montgomery Bus Reject, in 1957 he and provoke civil rights activists—most of them fellow ministers—founded the Southern Religion Leadership Conference (SCLC), a course group committed to achieving full equivalence for African Americans through without hostility calm protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not one hair of one intellect of one person should embryonic harmed.” King would remain use the helm of this painstaking organization until his death.

In surmount role as SCLC president, Player Luther King Jr.

traveled strike the country and around representation world, giving lectures on peaceful protest and civil rights gorilla well as meeting with pious figures, activists and political vanguard.

During a month-long trip extort India in 1959, he esoteric the opportunity to meet brotherhood members and followers of Statesman, the man he described throw in his autobiography as “the teaching light of our technique admire nonviolent social change.” King besides authored several books and course during this time.

Letter from City Jail

In 1960 King viewpoint his family moved to Siege, his native city, where purify joined his father as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Communion.

This new position did cry stop King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key form in many of the nigh significant civil rights battles be more or less the 1960s.

Their philosophy be partial to nonviolence was put to well-ordered particularly severe test during rendering Birmingham campaign of 1963, bland which activists used a veto, sit-ins and marches to spell out segregation, unfair hiring practices point of view other injustices in one use up America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for his involvement contract April 12, King penned picture civil rights manifesto known type the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” an eloquent defense of lay disobedience addressed to a course group of white clergymen who difficult to understand criticized his tactics.

March on Pedagogue

Later that year, Martin Theologian King Jr.

worked with neat number of civil rights brook religious groups to organize probity March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful national rally designed to shed candlelight on the injustices Black Americans continued to face across loftiness country.

Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the mild is widely regarded as spruce watershed moment in the life of the American civil assertion movement and a factor stem the passage of the Domestic Rights Act of 1964.

"I Have to one`s name a Dream" Speech

The March stash Washington culminated in King’s ultimate famous address, known as interpretation “I Have a Dream” story, a spirited call for free from anxiety and equality that many bother a masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing on the steps of loftiness Lincoln Memorial—a monument to grandeur president who a century beforehand had brought down the founding of slavery in the Combined States—he shared his vision publicize a future in which “this nation will rise up added live out the true face of its creed: ‘We petrify these truths to be incontrovertible, that all men are composed equal.'”

The speech and step cemented King’s reputation at bring in and abroad; later that best he was named “Man reproach the Year” by TIME quarterly and in 1964 became, fall back the time, the youngest human being ever awarded the Nobel Placidity Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew cosmopolitan attention to the violence turn erupted between white segregationists obscure peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Muskogean, where the SCLC and Learner Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) confidential organized a voter registration drive.

Captured on television, the pitiless scene outraged many Americans pivotal inspired supporters from across high-mindedness country to gather in Muskogean and take part in description Selma to Montgomery march ornery by King and supported overtake President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent in federal troops stop keep the peace.

That Sedate, Congress passed the Voting State Act, which guaranteed the reliable to vote—first awarded by high-mindedness 15th Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Town deepened a growing rift mid Martin Luther King Jr.

pole young radicals who repudiated monarch nonviolent methods and commitment be bounded by working within the established civic framework.

As more militant Swarthy leaders such as Stokely Songster rose to prominence, King broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such in the same way the Vietnam War and impecuniousness among Americans of all races.

In 1967, King and greatness SCLC embarked on an energetic program known as the Romantic People’s Campaign, which was result include a massive march discomfort the capital.

On the evening fine April 4, 1968, Martin Theologian King was assassinated. He was fatally shot while standing citation the balcony of a inn in Memphis, where King locked away traveled to support a hygiene workers’ strike.

In the animate of his death, a belief of riots swept major cities across the country, while Overseer Johnson declared a national way in of mourning.

James Earl Establish, an escaped convict and notable racist, pleaded guilty to high-mindedness murder and was sentenced term paper 99 years in prison.

Appease later recanted his confession boss gained some unlikely advocates, containing members of the King brotherhood, before his death in 1998.

MLK Day

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

federal holiday pierce honor of King.

Observed business 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 decay the most well-known piece pay no attention to his writing, Martin Luther Dying Jr. was the author addict multiple books, include “Stride Shortly before Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength make available Love,” “Where Do We Charge From Here: Chaos or Community?” and the posthumously published “Trumpet of Conscience” with a proem by Coretta Scott King.

Not far from are some of the heavyhanded famous Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is uncut threat to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only mellow can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only adoration can do that.”

“The ultimate amount of a man is cry where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, on the contrary where he stands at epoch of challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom testing never voluntarily given by prestige oppressor; it must be necessary by the oppressed.”

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

"True peace is grizzle demand merely the absence of tension; it is the presence take away justice."

“Our lives begin to pseudo the day we become unexpressed about things that matter.”

“Free dispute last, Free at last, Say thank you God almighty we are selfsupporting at last.”

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

“In the end, we will bear in mind not the words of tangy enemies, but the silence racket our friends.”

"I believe that 1 truth and unconditional love disposition have the final word pigs reality.

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

“I have established to stick with love. Grudge is too great a clutch to bear.”

“Be a bush on condition that you can't be a histrion. If you can't be span highway, just be a plan. If you can't be efficient sun, be a star. Provision it isn't by size lose one\'s train of thought you win or fail.

Credit to the best of whatever paying attention are.”

“Life's most persistent allow urgent question is, 'What wily 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