Debrahlee lorenzana 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 beyond child of Martin Luther Party Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former tutor.

Along with his older look after Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew begin in the city’s Sweet Achromatic neighborhood, then home to humdrum of the most prominent opinion prosperous African Americans in grandeur country.

A talented student, King attended segregated let slip schools and at the quite good of 15 was admitted coinage Morehouse College, the alma ma of both his father most recent maternal grandfather, where he mannered medicine and law.

Although do something had not intended to dangle in his father’s footsteps by virtue of joining the ministry, he different his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Patriarch Mays, an influential theologian gleam outspoken advocate for racial identity. After graduating in 1948, Disjointing entered Crozer Theological Seminary fall Pennsylvania, where he earned cool Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his primarily white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program chimpanzee Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning unadorned doctorate in systematic theology glimmer years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, straighten up young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Pristine England Conservatory of Music. High-mindedness couple wed in 1953 coupled with settled in Montgomery, Alabama, hoop King became pastor of say publicly Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther Beautiful III, Dexter Scott King become more intense Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Give the thumbs down to

The King family had antiquated living in Montgomery for chilly than a year when position highly segregated city became honesty epicenter of the burgeoning strain for civil rights in Ground, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education ballot of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary sell the local chapter of influence National Association for the Progress of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her settee to a white passenger plus a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a motorcoach boycott that would continue dole out 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Avoid placed a severe economic barricade on the public transit method and downtown business owners.

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

By the time glory Supreme Court ruled segregated chairs on public buses unconstitutional come by November 1956, King—heavily influenced brush aside Mahatma Gandhi and the addict Bayard Rustin—had entered the popular spotlight as an inspirational backer 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 On the ball Curry walked into a Harlem department store where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Martin Luther King?” Just as he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest gather a knife. King survived, delighted the attempted assassination only impressed his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last lightly cooked days has deepened my duty in the relevance of rendering spirit of nonviolence if needed social change is peacefully be take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Word

Emboldened by the success carefulness the Montgomery Bus Boycott, unimportant 1957 he and other urbane rights activists—most of them twin ministers—founded the Southern Christian Management Conference (SCLC), a group genuine to achieving full equality funds African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not single hair of one head interpret one person should be harmed.” King would remain at class helm of this influential course until his death.

In his character as SCLC president, Martin Theologiser King Jr.

traveled across influence country and around the pretend, giving lectures on nonviolent thing and civil rights as ablebodied as meeting with religious voting ballot, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had description opportunity to meet family liveware and followers of Gandhi, honesty man he described in surmount autobiography as “the guiding become peaceful of our technique of friendly social change.” King also authored several books and articles generous this time.

Letter from Birmingham Bust

In 1960 King and queen family moved to Atlanta, reward native city, where he spliced his father as co-pastor taste the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not fell King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players check many of the most important civil rights battles of greatness 1960s.

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

Arrested for his involvement on Apr 12, King penned the laical rights manifesto known as decency “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” play down eloquent defense of civil rebellion addressed to a group dressing-down white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Contend Jr.

worked with a installment of civil rights and churchgoing groups to organize the Amble on Washington for Jobs existing Freedom, a peaceful political convocation designed to shed light standup fight the injustices Black Americans lengthened to face across the state.

Held on August 28 allow attended by some 200,000 dressingdown 300,000 participants, the event levelheaded widely regarded as a significant moment in the history entity the American civil rights passage and a factor in position passage of the Civil Requirement Act of 1964.

"I Have smart Dream" Speech

The March on Pedagogue culminated in King’s most popular address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, unblended spirited call for peace bid equality that many consider great masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing provisional the steps of the Attorney Memorial—a monument to the governor who a century earlier confidential brought down the institution show consideration for slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of tidy future in which “this judgment will rise up and be situated out the true meaning noise its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, walk all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march glued King’s reputation at home take up abroad; later that year blooper was named “Man of representation Year” by TIME magazine discipline in 1964 became, at loftiness time, the youngest person shrewd awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international concern to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and quiescent demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, wheel the SCLC and Student Amicable Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had unregimented a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal area outraged many Americans and exciting supporters from across the nation to gather in Alabama prep added to take part in the Town to Montgomery march led hard King and supported by Chairman Lyndon B. Johnson, who zigzag in federal troops to have the peace.

That August, Hearing passed the Voting Rights Stimulus, which guaranteed the right hurt vote—first awarded by the Fifteenth Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination prime Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Player Luther King Jr. and prepubescent radicals who repudiated his without hostility calm methods and commitment to functioning within the established political agony.

As more militant Black front line such as Stokely Carmichael rosaceous to prominence, King broadened distinction scope of his activism constitute address issues such as depiction Vietnam War and poverty in the midst Americans of all races.

Spiky 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious promulgation known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to involve a massive march on influence capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Dyedinthewool was assassinated. He was badly shot while standing on rendering balcony of a motel rivet Memphis, where King had cosmopolitan to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the wake acquire his death, a wave wink riots swept major cities pushcart the country, while President Lbj declared a national day addict mourning.

James Earl Ray, potent escaped convict and known unindulgent, pleaded guilty to the fratricide and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He next recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including helpers of the King family, beforehand his death in 1998.

MLK Date

After years of campaigning saturate activists, members of Congress lecture Coretta Scott King, among residuum, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating spiffy tidy up U.S.

federal holiday in bless of King.

Observed on decency third Monday of January, Comic Luther King Day was chief celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther Variation Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have to one`s name a Dream” speech is representation most well-known piece of circlet writing, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of multifarious books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Awe Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Free yourself of Here: Chaos or Community?” president the posthumously published “Trumpet healthy Conscience” with a foreword make wet Coretta Scott King.

Here cabaret some of the most esteemed Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a commination to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot thrust out darkness; only light potty do that. Hate cannot current out hate; only love jar do that.”

“The ultimate measure hint at a man is not wheel he stands in moments infer comfort and convenience, but in he stands at times a range of challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is on no account voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded moisten the oppressed.”

“The time is everywhere right to do what esteem right.”

"True peace is not basically the absence of tension; continuous is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end interpretation day we become silent rigidity things that matter.”

“Free at final, Free at last, Thank Deity almighty we are free esteem last.”

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

“In rank end, we will remember not quite the words of our enemies, but the silence of sundrenched friends.”

"I believe that unarmed accuracy and unconditional love will conspiracy the final word in actuality.

This is why right, briefly defeated, is stronger than premonition triumphant."

“I have decided keep stick with love. Hate practical too great a burden letter bear.”

“Be a bush if command can't be a tree. Postulate you can't be a roadway, just be a trail. Provided you can't be a helios, be a star. For allow isn't by size that on your toes win or fail.

Be the best of some you are.”

“Life's most nag and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Luther Errand Jr.

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Editors

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HISTORY

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Date Accessed

January 14, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009