Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929. He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School and was accepted to Morsehouse College at age 15. He graduated from Morsehouse College and entered Crozer Theological Seminary. He was ordained to the Baptist ministry, February 25, 1948, at age 19. In 1951 he entered Boston University for graduate studies. In 1953 he married Coretta Scott and lived with his family in Montgomery, Alabama.
A boycott was held in Alabama as a result of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus for a white person. On November 13, 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was illegal, a victory for the boycott. Martin Luther King’s involvement in the boycott was just the beginning of his dedication to Black freedoms. Sadly, in the following years this dedication to Black freedoms created enemies both Black and White. It was only a few short years later in 1958 on a speaking tour, that Martin Luther King, Jr. was nearly killed when he was stabbed by an attempted assassination in Harlem, NY. Throughout his lifetime he met with many famous people, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, and Lester Grange on problems affecting Black Americans. In effort to continue his nonviolence as a philosophy he visited India in 1959 to study with Muhamid Gandghi.
In the summer of 1963, Dr. King led the March in Washington DC; stirring the emotions of millions of people, both Black and White, with the words “I have a dream.” It was this speech and the thousands that attended the rally that provided the necessary attention to American citizens and policy makers that this issue had relevance. On January 3,1964 King appeared on the cover of Times magazine as its Man of the Year. His freedoms efforts were a success when King attended the signing ceremony of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the White House on July 2. Ironically, during that summer, King experienced his first hurtful rejection by black people when he is stoned by Black Muslims in Harlem. Later that year, however, Dr. King is awarded the Noble Peace Prize on December 10, 1964. He was the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Peace at age 35. Sadly only a few months later on February 2, 1965 Dr. King is arrested in Selma, Alabama during a voting rights demonstration. Later that year President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. On January 22, 1966 King moved into a Chicago slum tenement to attract attention to the living conditions of the poor. In June, King and others begin the March "Against Fear" through the South. On July 10, King initiated a campaign to end discrimination in housing, employment, and schools in Chicago.
A few short months later in 1968, a sniper in a nearby building murdered him when he was on his balcony. Some people say that he was the main reason for the rights, freedoms and responsibilities that blacks have today. It is impossible to try to think what our country would be like without Martin Luther King. Jr. How would blacks be treated now? Would they still get the same treatment? Would we feel guilty for all the things we have done?
A boycott was held in Alabama as a result of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus for a white person. On November 13, 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was illegal, a victory for the boycott. Martin Luther King’s involvement in the boycott was just the beginning of his dedication to Black freedoms. Sadly, in the following years this dedication to Black freedoms created enemies both Black and White. It was only a few short years later in 1958 on a speaking tour, that Martin Luther King, Jr. was nearly killed when he was stabbed by an attempted assassination in Harlem, NY. Throughout his lifetime he met with many famous people, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, and Lester Grange on problems affecting Black Americans. In effort to continue his nonviolence as a philosophy he visited India in 1959 to study with Muhamid Gandghi.
In the summer of 1963, Dr. King led the March in Washington DC; stirring the emotions of millions of people, both Black and White, with the words “I have a dream.” It was this speech and the thousands that attended the rally that provided the necessary attention to American citizens and policy makers that this issue had relevance. On January 3,1964 King appeared on the cover of Times magazine as its Man of the Year. His freedoms efforts were a success when King attended the signing ceremony of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the White House on July 2. Ironically, during that summer, King experienced his first hurtful rejection by black people when he is stoned by Black Muslims in Harlem. Later that year, however, Dr. King is awarded the Noble Peace Prize on December 10, 1964. He was the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Peace at age 35. Sadly only a few months later on February 2, 1965 Dr. King is arrested in Selma, Alabama during a voting rights demonstration. Later that year President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. On January 22, 1966 King moved into a Chicago slum tenement to attract attention to the living conditions of the poor. In June, King and others begin the March "Against Fear" through the South. On July 10, King initiated a campaign to end discrimination in housing, employment, and schools in Chicago.
A few short months later in 1968, a sniper in a nearby building murdered him when he was on his balcony. Some people say that he was the main reason for the rights, freedoms and responsibilities that blacks have today. It is impossible to try to think what our country would be like without Martin Luther King. Jr. How would blacks be treated now? Would they still get the same treatment? Would we feel guilty for all the things we have done?