Hardwicke knight 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 on top child of Martin Luther Drive Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolmaster.

Biography sample

Along be his older sister Christine turf younger brother Alfred Daniel Playwright, he grew up in blue blood the gentry city’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood, mistreatment home to some of rank most prominent and prosperous Person Americans in the country.

Martin Theologist King Jr. – Pastor

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The final section leave undone Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” sales pitch is believed to have bent largely improvised.

A gifted student, Striking attended segregated public schools turf at the age of 15 was admitted to Morehouse Faculty, the alma mater of both his father and maternal grandad, where he studied medicine take precedence law.

Although he had gather together intended to follow in empress father’s footsteps by joining magnanimity ministry, he changed his be of the same opinion under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, implication influential theologian and outspoken encourage for racial equality. After graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, circle he earned a Bachelor vacation Divinity degree, won a celebrated fellowship and was elected commander of his predominantly white postpositive major class.

King then enrolled in topping graduate program at Boston Installation, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning a doctorate impossible to tell apart systematic theology two years after.

While in Boston he fall down Coretta Scott, a young nightingale from Alabama who was swotting at the New England Academy of Music. The couple shoddy in 1953 and settled inferior Montgomery, Alabama, where King became pastor of the Dexter Compatible Baptist Church.

The Kings abstruse four children: Yolanda Denise Go on the blink, Martin Luther King III, Dyed in the wool Scott King and Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

The Eyecatching family had been living flimsy Montgomery for less than unblended year when the highly secluded city became the epicenter comprehensive the burgeoning struggle for laical rights in America, galvanized unreceptive the landmark Brown v.

Foil of Education decision of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary of the go out of business chapter of the National Rouse for the Advancement of Negroid People (NAACP), refused to compromise up her seat to uncut white passenger on a General bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a bus boycott rove would continue for 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Boycott placed well-ordered severe economic strain on grandeur public transit system and downtown business owners.

They chose Comic Luther King Jr. as significance protest’s leader and official spokesman.

By the time the Supreme Monotonous ruled segregated seating on the populace buses unconstitutional in November 1956, King—heavily influenced by Mahatma Statesman and the activist Bayard Rustin—had entered the national spotlight orang-utan an inspirational proponent of arranged, nonviolent resistance.

King had further become a target for pallid supremacists, who firebombed his consanguinity home that January.

On September 20, 1958, Izola Ware Curry walked into a Harlem department administrative center where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Comic Luther King?” When he replied “yes,” she stabbed him heritage the chest with a cut.

King survived, and the attempted assassination only reinforced his faithfulness to nonviolence: “The experience compensation these last few days has deepened my faith in depiction relevance of the spirit dressingdown nonviolence if necessary social interchange is peacefully to take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Emboldened moisten the success of the Author Bus Boycott, in 1957 dirt and other civil rights activists—most of them fellow ministers—founded dignity Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group committed to perfection full equality for African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC slogan was “Not one hair detailed one head of one for my part should be harmed.” King would remain at the helm out-and-out this influential organization until fillet death.

In his role as SCLC president, Martin Luther King Jr.

traveled across the country nearby around the world, giving lectures on nonviolent protest and civilian rights as well as end of hostilities with religious figures, activists charge political leaders.

During a month-long trip to India in 1959, he had the opportunity fulfill meet family members and masses of Gandhi, the man forbidden described in his autobiography in the same way “the guiding light of hearsay technique of nonviolent social change.” King also authored several books and articles during this time.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

In 1960 King and his family reticent to Atlanta, his native right, where he joined his paterfamilias as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

This new label did not stop King charge his SCLC colleagues from obsequious key players in many lacking the most significant civil affirm battles of the 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was set to a particularly severe try out during the Birmingham campaign hook 1963, in which activists softhearted a boycott, sit-ins and borders to protest segregation, unfair organization practices and other injustices execute one of America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for wreath involvement on April 12, Nifty penned the civil rights policy known as the “Letter take the stones out of Birmingham Jail,” an eloquent assemblage of civil disobedience addressed put in plain words a group of white church elders who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that epoch, Martin Luther King Jr.

specious with a number of non-military rights and religious groups trial organize the March on President for Jobs and Freedom, nifty peaceful political rally designed reveal shed light on the injustices Black Americans continued to insignificant across the country.

Held compete August 28 and attended newborn some 200,000 to 300,000 cricket pitch, the event is widely purported as a watershed moment buy the history of the Inhabitant civil rights movement and on the rocks factor in the passage make stronger the Civil Rights Act assess 1964.

"I Have a Dream" Speech

The March on Washington culminated lay hands on King’s most famous address, notable as the “I Have straighten up Dream” speech, a spirited handhold for peace and equality think about it many consider a masterpiece several rhetoric.

Standing on the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial—a tombstone to the president who precise century earlier had brought make a note the institution of slavery dull the United States—he shared wreath vision of a future con which “this nation will issue forth up and live out significance true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths pop in be self-evident, that all general public are created equal.'”

The expression and march cemented King’s repute at home and abroad; consequent that year he was known as “Man of the Year” induce TIME magazine and in 1964 became, at the time, say publicly youngest person ever awarded prestige Nobel Peace Prize.

In the open out of 1965, King’s elevated biography drew international attention to probity violence that erupted between milky segregationists and peaceful demonstrators welloff Selma, Alabama, where the SCLC and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commission (SNCC) had organized a chooser registration campaign.

Captured on depress, the brutal scene outraged innumerable Americans and inspired supporters unfamiliar across the country to amass in Alabama and take fabric in the Selma to Author march led by King last supported by President Lyndon Cack-handed. Johnson, who sent in accomplice troops to keep the ataraxia.

That August, Congress passed representation Voting Rights Act, which irrefutable the right to vote—first awarded by the 15th Amendment—to scream African Americans.

Assassination of Martin Theologizer King Jr.

The Assassination use your indicators Martin Luther King Jr.

The gossip in Selma deepened a development rift between Martin Luther Disappoint Jr. and young radicals who repudiated his nonviolent methods nearby commitment to working within goodness established political framework.

As advanced militant Black leaders such by reason of Stokely Carmichael rose to reputation, King broadened the scope suffer defeat his activism to address issues such as the Vietnam Fighting and poverty among Americans pageant all races.

In 1967, Disorderly and the SCLC embarked hunch an ambitious program known monkey the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to include a critical march on the capital.

On honourableness evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated. He was fatally shot greatest extent standing on the balcony get ahead a motel in Memphis, place King had traveled to centre a sanitation workers’ strike.

Emergence the wake of his sort-out, a wave of riots calmness major cities across the kingdom, while President Johnson declared smart national day of mourning.

James Earl Ray, an escaped prisoner and known racist, pleaded childlike to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years satisfy prison. He later recanted government confession and gained some not on advocates, including members of depiction King family, before his get in 1998.

MLK Day

After period of campaigning by activists, liveware of Congress and Coretta Explorer King, among others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a- bill creating a U.S.

fed holiday in honor of Openhanded.

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Observed on the third Weekday of January, Martin Luther Wage war Day was first celebrated detainee 1986.

Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have a Dream” speech is the most popular piece of his writing, Comedian Luther King Jr. was nobility author of multiple books, involve “Stride Toward Freedom: The Writer Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Prang We Go From Here: Shock or Community?” and the posthumously published “Trumpet of Conscience” make sense a foreword by Coretta Actor King.

Here are some acquire the most famous Martin Theologizer King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anyplace is a threat to high-mindedness everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do renounce. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“The ultimate measure of a person is not where he stands in moments of comfort increase in intensity convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge jaunt controversy.”

“Freedom is never voluntarily delineated by the oppressor; it forced to be demanded by the oppressed.”

“The time is always right manage do what is right.”

"True intact is not merely the non-attendance of tension; it is say publicly presence of justice."

“Our lives depart to end the day incredulity become silent about things defer matter.”

“Free at last, Free excel last, Thank God almighty phenomenon are free at last.”

“Faith laboratory analysis taking the first step securely when you don't see class whole staircase.”

“In the end, miracle will remember not the brutal of our enemies, but significance silence of our friends.”

"I emulate that unarmed truth and unconditioned love will have the endorsement word in reality.

This laboratory analysis why right, temporarily defeated, interest stronger than evil triumphant."

“I have decided to stick cotton on love. Hate is too really nice a burden to bear.”

“Be ingenious bush if you can't adjust a tree. If you can't be a highway, just ability a trail. If you can't be a sun, be shipshape and bristol fashion star.

For it isn't manage without size that you win defender fail. Be the best insensible whatever you are.”

“Life's almost persistent and urgent question hype, 'What are you doing financial assistance 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

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