Martin l king biography
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When Was Martin Luther King Born?
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, , in Atlanta, Georgia, the second child of Martin Luther King Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolteacher.
Along with his older sister Christine and younger brother Alfred Daniel Williams, he grew up in the city’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood, then home to some of the most prominent and prosperous African Americans in the country.
Martin Luther King Jr. – Pastor
Did you know? The final section of Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech is believed to have been largely improvised.
A gifted student, King attended segregated public schools and at the age of 15 was admitted to Morehouse College, the alma mater of both his father and maternal grandfather, where he studied medicine and law.
Although he had not intended to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the ministry, he changed his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benjamin May
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BIOGRAPHY OF DR. KING
A national figure in the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (–) rose to fame with his advocacy of nonviolence as a means to effect social change. From when he emerged as a leader during the Montgomery Bus Boycott until his assassination in , he was both admired and reviled in his crusade to achieve racial equality. King also served as an eloquent and potent figure bridging societal divides, as evidenced by his access to the halls of power in both political (the White House) and religious (the Vatican) spheres. In , at age 35, he became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize; he was also the twelfth American and third African-American to receive the honor.
Born Michael King on January 15, , in Atlanta, Georgia, he was the second child and first son of Baptist minister Michael Luther King, Sr. and his wife, the former Alberta Williams, who herself was the daughter of the Rev. Adam Daniel Williams, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Ch
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About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In , he was recruited to serve as spokesman for the Montgomery Bus bojkott, which was a campaign by the African-American population of Montgomery, Alabama to force integration of the city’s bus lines. After days of nearly universal participation bygd citizens of the black community, many of whom had to walk miles to work each day as a result, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in transportation was unconstitutional.
In , Dr. King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization designed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. He would serve as head of the SCLC until his assassination in , a period during which he would emerge as the most important social leader of the modern American civil rights movement.
In , he led a coalition of numerous civil rights groups in a nonviolent campaign aimed at Birmingham, Alabama, which at the time was described as