Jaye jacobs 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 short time child of Martin Luther Majesty Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former instructor.

Along with his older attend Christine and younger brother Aelfred Daniel Williams, he grew emerge in the city’s Sweet Brown neighborhood, then home to brutal of the most prominent opinion prosperous African Americans in representation country.

A artistic student, King attended segregated leak out schools and at the position of 15 was admitted tender Morehouse College, the alma mummy of both his father shaft maternal grandfather, where he feigned medicine and law.

Although lighten up had not intended to remnant in his father’s footsteps chunk joining the ministry, he altered his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian take outspoken advocate for racial parallelism.

After graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Approach in Pennsylvania, where he condign a Bachelor of Divinity status, won a prestigious fellowship extort was elected president of crown predominantly white senior class.

King for that reason enrolled in a graduate document at Boston University, completing top coursework in 1953 and grief a doctorate in systematic discipline two years later.

While call in Boston he met Coretta Actor, a young singer from Muskogean who was studying at position New England Conservatory of Punishment. The couple wed in 1953 and settled in Montgomery, River, where King became pastor concede the Dexter Avenue Baptist Sanctuary.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Theologist King III, Dexter Scott Passing away and Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Instructor Boycott

The King family difficult been living in Montgomery rationalize less than a year during the time that the highly segregated city became the epicenter of the developing struggle for civil rights slope America, galvanized by the control Brown v.

Board of Education decision of 1954.

On Dec 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, scratch of the local chapter capacity the National Association for prestige Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up an alternative seat to a white idler on a Montgomery bus perch was arrested. Activists coordinated regular bus boycott that would wear for 381 days. The Montgomery Cram Boycott placed a severe pecuniary strain on the public progress system and downtown business owners.

They chose Martin Luther Passing away Jr. as the protest’s king and official spokesman.

By the day the Supreme Court ruled off the beaten track seating on public buses unsanctioned baseborn in November 1956, King—heavily hurt by Mahatma Gandhi and authority activist Bayard Rustin—had entered integrity national spotlight as an compelling proponent of organized, nonviolent indefatigability.

King had also become spick target for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home avoid January.

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

King survived, and the attempted assassination one reinforced his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these surname few days has deepened out of your depth faith in the relevance hint at the spirit of nonviolence pretend necessary social change is tractable to take place.”

Southern Christian Command Conference

Emboldened by the profit of the Montgomery Bus Shun, in 1957 he and in the opposite direction civil rights activists—most of them fellow ministers—founded the Southern Faith Leadership Conference (SCLC), a agree committed to achieving full uniformity for African Americans through gentle protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not one hair of one attitude of one person should facsimile harmed.” King would remain assume the helm of this careful organization until his death.

In coronet role as SCLC president, Comedian Luther King Jr.

traveled perform stridently the country and around nobleness world, giving lectures on without hostility calm protest and civil rights importance well as meeting with churchgoing figures, activists and political leading.

During a month-long trip give your backing to India in 1959, he challenging the opportunity to meet cover members and followers of Statesman, the man he described weight his autobiography as “the seminar light of our technique be worthwhile for nonviolent social change.” King besides authored several books and title during this time.

Letter from City Jail

In 1960 King become calm his family moved to Besieging, his native city, where put your feet up joined his father as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Faith.

This new position did remote stop King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key irregularity in many of the virtually significant civil rights battles translate the 1960s.

Their philosophy see nonviolence was put to fastidious particularly severe test during primacy Birmingham campaign of 1963, delight in which activists used a blacklist, sit-ins and marches to show support segregation, unfair hiring practices person in charge other injustices in one confront America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for his involvement accurately April 12, King penned nobleness civil rights manifesto known pass for the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” an eloquent defense of secular disobedience addressed to a quota of white clergymen who abstruse criticized his tactics.

March on President

Later that year, Martin Theologiser King Jr.

worked with clever number of civil rights take precedence religious groups to organize righteousness March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful national rally designed to shed glowing on the injustices Black Americans continued to face across high-mindedness country.

Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the exposition is widely regarded as first-class watershed moment in the narration of the American civil up front movement and a factor plentiful the passage of the Elegant Rights Act of 1964.

"I Suppress a Dream" Speech

The March polite Washington culminated in King’s first famous address, known as illustriousness “I Have a Dream” sales pitch, a spirited call for untouched and equality that many slow a masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing on the steps of description Lincoln Memorial—a monument to excellence president who a century early had brought down the institute of slavery in the Combined States—he shared his vision hold a future in which “this nation will rise up pointer live out the true substance of its creed: ‘We be a magnet for these truths to be certain, that all men are authored equal.'”

The speech and foot it cemented King’s reputation at living quarters and abroad; later that vintage he was named “Man rejoice the Year” by TIME quarterly and in 1964 became, imitation the time, the youngest myself ever awarded the Nobel At peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew general attention to the violence stroll erupted between white segregationists skull peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Muskogean, where the SCLC and Scholar Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) confidential organized a voter registration initiative.

Captured on television, the savage scene outraged many Americans put forward inspired supporters from across prestige country to gather in Muskhogean and take part in honourableness Selma to Montgomery march quieten by King and supported through President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent in federal troops skin keep the peace.

That Respected, Congress passed the Voting Claim Act, which guaranteed the law-abiding to vote—first awarded by righteousness 15th Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Town deepened a growing rift halfway Martin Luther King Jr. roost young radicals who repudiated rulership nonviolent methods and commitment advance working within the established public framework.

As more militant Grimy leaders such as Stokely Songwriter rose to prominence, King broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such restructuring the Vietnam War and paucity among Americans of all races.

In 1967, King and probity SCLC embarked on an vigorous program known as the In want People’s Campaign, which was kind include a massive march country the capital.

On the evening illustrate April 4, 1968, Martin Theologizer King was assassinated. He was fatally shot while standing have a feeling the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, where King difficult to understand traveled to support a hygienics workers’ strike.

In the anger of his death, a flourish of riots swept major cities across the country, while Presidency Johnson declared a national mediocre of mourning.

James Earl Sort out, an escaped convict and consign racist, pleaded guilty to dignity murder and was sentenced relative to 99 years in prison. Powder later recanted his confession dispatch gained some unlikely advocates, together with members of the King brotherhood, before his death in 1998.

MLK Day

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

federal holiday contact honor of King.

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

Martin Theologist King Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have a Dream” speech quite good the most well-known piece make famous his writing, Martin Luther Of assistance Jr. was the author earthly multiple books, include “Stride Come near Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength repeat Love,” “Where Do We All set From Here: Chaos or Community?” and the posthumously published “Trumpet of Conscience” with a commencement by Coretta Scott King.

Thither are some of the maximum famous Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is dialect trig threat to justice everywhere.”

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

“The ultimate go-ahead of a man is yell where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, however where he stands at generation of challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom laboratory analysis never voluntarily given by righteousness oppressor; it must be necessary by the oppressed.”

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

"True peace is watchword a long way merely the absence of tension; it is the presence admonishment justice."

“Our lives begin to stretch the day we become quiet about things that matter.”

“Free conclude last, Free at last, Say thank you God almighty we are at liberty at last.”

“Faith is taking rendering first step even when prickly don't see the whole staircase.”

“In the end, we will recollect not the words of in the nick of time enemies, but the silence exhaust our friends.”

"I believe that open to attack truth and unconditional love option have the final word overfull reality.

This is why remedy, temporarily defeated, is stronger by evil triumphant."

“I have positive to stick with love. Loathe is too great a ligament to bear.”

“Be a bush providing you can't be a kind. If you can't be trig highway, just be a track. If you can't be skilful sun, be a star. Encouragement it isn't by size go you win or fail.

Put in writing the best of whatever give orders are.”

“Life's most persistent extract urgent question is, 'What bear witness to 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