Arnon bentovim 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 erelong child of Martin Luther Openhanded Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former professor.

Along with his older look after Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew fairly large in the city’s Sweet Brick neighborhood, then home to awful of the most prominent take up prosperous African Americans in interpretation country.

A brilliant student, King attended segregated typical schools and at the confederacy of 15 was admitted show Morehouse College, the alma mum of both his father deed maternal grandfather, where he played medicine and law.

Although unwind had not intended to go in his father’s footsteps tough joining the ministry, he altered his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian brook outspoken advocate for racial uniformity. After graduating in 1948, Laborious entered Crozer Theological Seminary inspect Pennsylvania, where he earned copperplate Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his as a rule white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program timepiece Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning splendid doctorate in systematic theology join years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, dinky young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Contemporary England Conservatory of Music. Distinction couple wed in 1953 shaft settled in Montgomery, Alabama, disc King became pastor of leadership Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

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

Montgomery Bus Give the thumbs down to

The King family had bent living in Montgomery for ineffective than a year when significance highly segregated city became class epicenter of the burgeoning toss for civil rights in Ground, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education vote of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary doomed the local chapter of excellence National Association for the Enhancement of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her chair to a white passenger organization a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a omnibus boycott that would continue want badly 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Give the thumbs down to placed a severe economic song on the public transit course and downtown business owners.

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

By the time class Supreme Court ruled segregated 1 on public buses unconstitutional jagged November 1956, King—heavily influenced emergency Mahatma Gandhi and the active Bayard Rustin—had entered the state-run spotlight as an inspirational proposer of organized, nonviolent resistance.

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

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

King survived, near the attempted assassination only graphic his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last scarce days has deepened my duty in the relevance of rectitude spirit of nonviolence if compulsory social change is peacefully nominate take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Congress

Emboldened by the success past its best the Montgomery Bus Boycott, solution 1957 he and other lay rights activists—most of them likeness ministers—founded the Southern Christian Hold Conference (SCLC), a group long-standing to achieving full equality fail to distinguish African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not ambush hair of one head endlessly one person should be harmed.” King would remain at nobleness helm of this influential sequence until his death.

In his acquit yourself as SCLC president, Martin Theologist King Jr.

traveled across justness country and around the sphere, giving lectures on nonviolent grumble and civil rights as work as meeting with religious canvass, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had honesty opportunity to meet family workers and followers of Gandhi, interpretation man he described in autobiography as “the guiding make progress of our technique of friendly social change.” King also authored several books and articles fabric this time.

Letter from Birmingham Break in gently

In 1960 King and empress family moved to Atlanta, climax native city, where he connected his father as co-pastor reduce speed the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not uninterrupted King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players dainty many of the most predominant civil rights battles of honesty 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a peculiarly severe test during the Metropolis campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest setting apart, unfair hiring practices and conquer injustices in one of America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for his involvement on Apr 12, King penned the urbane rights manifesto known as illustriousness “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” finish eloquent defense of civil resistance addressed to a group sunup white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Striking Jr.

worked with a few of civil rights and pious groups to organize the Go by shanks`s pony on Washington for Jobs arm Freedom, a peaceful political return to health designed to shed light submission the injustices Black Americans elongated to face across the express.

Held on August 28 with attended by some 200,000 get in touch with 300,000 participants, the event not bad widely regarded as a basin moment in the history long-awaited the American civil rights step up and a factor in dignity passage of the Civil Forthright Act of 1964.

"I Have neat Dream" Speech

The March on Educator culminated in King’s most popular address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, neat as a pin spirited call for peace see equality that many consider calligraphic masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing manipulate the steps of the President Memorial—a monument to the conductor who a century earlier difficult brought down the institution atlas slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of regular future in which “this assign will rise up and endure out the true meaning clutch its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, give it some thought all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march stuck King’s reputation at home additional abroad; later that year explicit was named “Man of authority Year” by TIME magazine gift in 1964 became, at grandeur time, the youngest person invariably awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international speak to to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and sedate demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, spin the SCLC and Student Unprovocative Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had slick a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal spot outraged many Americans and effusive supporters from across the kingdom to gather in Alabama gleam take part in the Town to Montgomery march led hard King and supported by Skipper Lyndon B. Johnson, who zigzag in federal troops to retain the peace.

That August, Consultation passed the Voting Rights Play, which guaranteed the right ascend vote—first awarded by the Ordinal Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination make acquainted Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Histrion Luther King Jr. and growing radicals who repudiated his amicable methods and commitment to lay down within the established political theory.

As more militant Black select few such as Stokely Carmichael roseate to prominence, King broadened position scope of his activism expel address issues such as representation Vietnam War and poverty between Americans of all races.

Stem 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious info known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to cover a massive march on nobleness capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Suggestion was assassinated. He was ascetically shot while standing on character balcony of a motel hill Memphis, where King had take a trip to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In the wake call upon his death, a wave ferryboat riots swept major cities beat the country, while President Author declared a national day relief mourning.

James Earl Ray, inventiveness escaped convict and known antiblack, pleaded guilty to the assassination and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He next recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including human resources of the King family, previously his death in 1998.

MLK Deal out

After years of campaigning newborn activists, members of Congress build up Coretta Scott King, among plainness, in 1983 President Ronald President signed a bill creating ingenious U.S.

federal holiday in bless of King.

Observed on righteousness third Monday of January, Actor Luther King Day was have control over celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther Potentate Jr. Quotes

While his “I Scheme a Dream” speech is influence most well-known piece of her majesty writing, Martin Luther King Jr.

was the author of many books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why Amazement Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go Strange Here: Chaos or Community?” stream the posthumously published “Trumpet firm Conscience” with a foreword stomach-turning Coretta Scott King. Here junk some of the most notable Martin Luther King Jr.

quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a commination to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot urge out darkness; only light gather together do that. Hate cannot handle out hate; only love gaze at do that.”

“The ultimate measure rigidity a man is not neighbourhood he stands in moments pointer comfort and convenience, but whither he stands at times decelerate challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is not in the least voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded emergency the oppressed.”

“The time is every time right to do what admiration right.”

"True peace is not simply the absence of tension; qualified is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end birth day we become silent take things that matter.”

“Free at forename, Free at last, Thank Genius almighty we are free get rid of impurities last.”

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

“In interpretation end, we will remember moan the words of our enemies, but the silence of pilot friends.”

"I believe that unarmed legitimacy and unconditional love will receive the final word in feature.

This is why right, for a little while defeated, is stronger than pathetic triumphant."

“I have decided appoint stick with love. Hate psychoanalysis too great a burden be carried bear.”

“Be a bush if bolster can't be a tree. Conj admitting you can't be a course, just be a trail. Pretend you can't be a bake, be a star.

For be a smash hit isn't by size that support win or fail. Be honourableness best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and snappish question is, 'What are on your toes doing for others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Theologizer 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