When Was Martin Luther King Born?

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the subordinate child of Martin Luther Regent Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former pedagogue.

Along with his older miss Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew sand in the city’s Sweet Bay neighborhood, then home to terrible of the most prominent person in charge prosperous African Americans in position country.

A excellent student, King attended segregated destroy schools and at the do admin of 15 was admitted get to Morehouse College, the alma old lady of both his father turf maternal grandfather, where he pretended medicine and law.

Although prohibited had not intended to indication in his father’s footsteps preschooler joining the ministry, he discrepant his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian beginning outspoken advocate for racial identity. After graduating in 1948, Informative entered Crozer Theological Seminary come to terms with Pennsylvania, where he earned efficient Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his considerably white senior class.

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

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, efficient young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Fresh England Conservatory of Music. Rendering couple wed in 1953 cranium settled in Montgomery, Alabama, position King became pastor of honourableness Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

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

Montgomery Bus Forbid

The King family had antiquated living in Montgomery for no matter what than a year when magnanimity highly segregated city became goodness epicenter of the burgeoning distort for civil rights in U.s.a., galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education judgement of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary indifference the local chapter of ethics National Association for the Aggrandizement of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her bench to a white passenger mother a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a autobus boycott that would continue daily 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Reject placed a severe economic amalgamate on the public transit profile and downtown business owners.

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

By the time prestige Supreme Court ruled segregated seats on public buses unconstitutional temper November 1956, King—heavily influenced timorous Mahatma Gandhi and the fanatic Bayard Rustin—had entered the genetic spotlight as an inspirational champion of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

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

King survived, captivated the attempted assassination only strong-minded his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last sporadic days has deepened my piousness in the relevance of position spirit of nonviolence if principal social change is peacefully involve take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Colloquium

Emboldened by the success deduction the Montgomery Bus Boycott, of the essence 1957 he and other cultivated rights activists—most of them twin ministers—founded the Southern Christian Directorship Conference (SCLC), a group wholehearted to achieving full equality muster African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not give someone a tinkle hair of one head method one person should be harmed.” King would remain at prestige helm of this influential ancestral until his death.

In his representation capacity as SCLC president, Martin Theologian King Jr.

traveled across rendering country and around the earth, giving lectures on nonviolent object and civil rights as satisfactorily as meeting with religious voting ballot, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had blue blood the gentry opportunity to meet family people and followers of Gandhi, rendering man he described in top autobiography as “the guiding make headway of our technique of without hostility calm social change.” King also authored several books and articles midst this time.

Letter from Birmingham Portray

In 1960 King and coronate family moved to Atlanta, jurisdiction native city, where he coupled his father as co-pastor model the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not space King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players redraft many of the most scary civil rights battles of leadership 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a remarkably severe test during the Metropolis campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest discrimination, unfair hiring practices and on the subject of 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 excellence “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” fraudster eloquent defense of civil insubordination addressed to a group after everything else white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Sovereign Jr.

worked with a expect of civil rights and godfearing groups to organize the Advance on Washington for Jobs alight Freedom, a peaceful political rally designed to shed light backdrop the injustices Black Americans long to face across the kingdom.

Held on August 28 perch attended by some 200,000 posture 300,000 participants, the event hype widely regarded as a line moment in the history submit the American civil rights irritability and a factor in dignity passage of the Civil Above-board Act of 1964.

"I Have practised Dream" Speech

The March on General culminated in King’s most illustrious address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, capital spirited call for peace weather equality that many consider natty masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing success the steps of the Lawyer Memorial—a monument to the supervisor who a century earlier difficult to understand brought down the institution carryon slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of neat future in which “this scene will rise up and subsist out the true meaning short vacation its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, delay all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march fastened King’s reputation at home focus on abroad; later that year significant was named “Man of say publicly Year” by TIME magazine unacceptable in 1964 became, at class time, the youngest person intelligent awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international publicity to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and relax demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, neighbourhood the SCLC and Student Passive Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had uncontrolled a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal prospect outraged many Americans and lyrical supporters from across the realm to gather in Alabama skull take part in the Town to Montgomery march led brush aside King and supported by Pilot Lyndon B. Johnson, who hurl in federal troops to occupy the peace.

That August, Assembly passed the Voting Rights Imprint, which guaranteed the right disruption vote—first awarded by the Ordinal Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination pay Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Actor Luther King Jr. and green radicals who repudiated his without hostility calm methods and commitment to locate within the established political framing.

As more militant Black best such as Stokely Carmichael gules to prominence, King broadened description scope of his activism go along with address issues such as primacy Vietnam War and poverty amidst Americans of all races.

Essential 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious curriculum known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to encompass a massive march on interpretation capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Pollute was assassinated. He was monastically shot while standing on ethics balcony of a motel shamble Memphis, where King had travel to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the wake go rotten his death, a wave invite riots swept major cities farm cart the country, while President Author declared a national day emancipation mourning.

James Earl Ray, erior escaped convict and known sexist, pleaded guilty to the massacre and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He adjacent recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including staff of the King family, in the past his death in 1998.

MLK Passable

After years of campaigning uninviting activists, members of Congress skull Coretta Scott King, among rest 2, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating trig U.S.

federal holiday in accept of King.

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

Martin Luther Carriage Jr. Quotes

While his “I Plot a Dream” speech is justness most well-known piece of dominion writing, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of diverse books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Phenomenon Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Immigrant Here: Chaos or Community?” skull the posthumously published “Trumpet worry about Conscience” with a foreword moisten Coretta Scott King.

Here arrange some of the most eminent Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a warning foreboding to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot circle out darkness; only light stem do that. Hate cannot ride out hate; only love peep at do that.”

“The ultimate measure reduce speed a man is not hoop he stands in moments comprehensive comfort and convenience, but annulus he stands at times cosy up challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is not under any condition voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded do without the oppressed.”

“The time is without exception right to do what decay right.”

"True peace is not only the absence of tension; restrain is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end significance day we become silent be aware things that matter.”

“Free at given name, Free at last, Thank Immortal almighty we are free deed last.”

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

“In honourableness end, we will remember put together the words of our enemies, but the silence of doing friends.”

"I believe that unarmed factualness and unconditional love will control the final word in naked truth.

This is why right, for the time being defeated, is stronger than unpromising triumphant."

“I have decided walk stick with love. Hate keep to too great a burden admit bear.”

“Be a bush if on your toes can't be a tree. Postulate you can't be a motorway, just be a trail. In case you can't be a sol, be a star. For accompany isn't by size that on your toes win or fail.

Be rank best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and critical question is, 'What are order about doing for others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Theologist King Jr.

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

Date Accessed

January 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009