Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
was born in Atlanta, Georgia, January 15, 1929.
Click
here to take a virtual tour of his boyhood home.
Martin was an excellent
student and learned to read before he started school. He skipped grades in
elementary school and high school and became a student at Morehouse College in
Atlanta, Georgia when he was only 15 years old! Martin loved to sing and read
books. He also enjoyed playing football and baseball. King married Coretta
Scott in 1953.
He graduated with a
doctorate in theology from Boston University in 1955 and became a minister
like his father and grandfather.
Coretta and Martin had
four children.
All of his life Martin
had experienced racism and he questioned the fairness of the segregation laws
in the southern states. The segregation laws were written to keep black and
white people separate.
There were "White Only"
water fountains, restaurants, playgrounds, swimming pools, etc. Black and
white children in the south went to separate schools.
Martin decided to do
something to make the world a better and fairer place for everyone.
Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. became famous when he involved himself in the Rosa
Parks case. Rosa had refused to give up her seat to a white man on a
Montgomery, Alabama bus.
She was arrested
because the law said blacks had to sit at the back of the bus and give up
their seats if a white person wanted to sit down.
Martin led a Black bus
boycott. All of the black people in Montgomery refused to ride the buses and
walked instead. Martin and ninety others were arrested. The bus company lost a
lot of money and the law was changed. The Montgomery bus boycott made King a
national hero.
Martin's philosophy was
to encourage change through peaceful resistance.
His peaceful protests
led to his arrest on many occasions in the 1950s and 60s.
He led the "March on
Washington" to call attention to racial injustice in August of 1963. The march
brought together more than 200,000 people. On Aug. 28, 1963 Dr. King delivered
his very famous "I
Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In 1964
Martin was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Peace Prize is given every
year to someone who has promoted peace in the world.
Dr. King met with
President Johnson to discuss changes in our country's laws.
Dr. Martin Luther King
was in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968 when he was shot and killed as he
stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.
The leader of the Civil
Rights movement was silenced that day but the cause went on and changed our
nation forever. Laws were changed and now we have equality for everyone
regardless of the color of their skin. Thank you, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.!
