Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was an American black Baptist minister who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid 50s until his death. King's greatest success was the ending of legal segregation of blacks in the US.

American black Baptist minister

King was born in Atlanta on 15 January 1929. At the age of 15 he entered Morehouse College under a special program for gifted students. At Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, King became acquainted with Ghandi's philosophy of nonviolence. After Crozer King went to Boston University where he began to focus on the relationship of man to God.

Coretta Scott

In 1953 King married Coretta Scott and had four children. Martin Luther King was appointed as a pastor at the Baptist Church in Montgomery.
In December 1955 a black woman refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger. The woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested for violating the segregation law. The Montgomery Improvement Association was formed to boycott the transit system and King became the leader of the protest association.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

King became a national prominence through the organization of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Civil-rights movement

In February 1959 King met India's Prime Minister Nehru. The meeting resulted in a stronger believe for a nonviolent approach. In 1960 King moved to Atlanta where he became copastor with his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, but Martin Luther King devoted most of his time to the civil-rights movement. In October he was arrested at a lunch counter in a department store. Later the charges were dropped, but King was sent to prison on a minor traffic offense. His case got national attention and presidential candidate John F. Kennedy finally succeeded in establishing King's release.

Massive March on Washington

In 1963 King was one of the leaders who organized the massive March on Washington. On 28 August 1963 more than 200,000 people were gathered to demand equal justice for all citizens. King's "I Have A Dream" speech became internationally known and was cherished by millions of people. In 1964 Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

A dream of equality of opportunity

King: "I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream - a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Killed in Memphis

On 4 April 1968 a sniper killed Martin Luther King while standing on the balcony of a Memphis motel where he was staying. His assassination shocked the world. King was only 39 at the time of his death.

National holiday

In 1986 the U.S. Congress voted to observe a national holiday on his honor on the third Monday in January.

Hope

King: "If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream."

Justice

King: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Stupidity

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity" (Martin Luther King Jr.).

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King

A professor of history and the noted author and editor of several books on the civil rights struggle, Dr. Clayborne Carson was selected by the estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to edit and publish Dr. King's papers. Drawing upon an unprecedented archive of King's own words, including unpublished letters and diaries, as well as video footage and recordings, Dr. Carson creates an unforgettable self-portrait of Dr. King. In his own vivid, compassionate voice, here is Martin Luther King, Jr., as student, minister, husband, father, and world leader. A rich, moving chronicle of a people and a nation in the face of powerful and still resonating change.
Destined to become a classic, this powerful and inspirational autobiography of America's greatest civil rights leader calls upon Stanford University's voluminous collection of archival material, including Dr. King's previously unpublished writings, public and private interviews, audio and video recordings, and personal correspondence.
Paperback, ISBN: 0446676500

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