Martin Luther King Jr 1929 1968 Leo R

Martin Luther King Jr. 1929 -1968 Leo R. Sandy

King Is famous for having a dream that he gave his life for – for all people to be free, to have all people respect the rights of others, and for people to live together in peace and brotherhood He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and growing up he became very aware of segregation that not only separated the races but also involved insults, beatings, and killings by racist whites He was a very capable student who entered Morehouse College at age 15 At college he read Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”, and studies great thinkers including Gandhi

King, cont’d After college, King attended Boston University’s School of Theology where he received his doctoral degree and met his wife, Coretta with whom he had 4 children After graduation he started a ministry in Montgomery, Alabama King supported Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a public bus He was elected as president of a newly formed group called the Montgomery Improvement Association that engaged in a major boycott of buses. For 381 days black citizens walked or carpooled to work causing the bus company to lose a large amount of money During the boycott, King’s house was bombed. Instead of trying to get even, King insisted that one not only should avoid retaliation but also not hate people who hate and do harm to yourself or others

King cont’d In 1956 the United States Supreme court declared bus segregation unconstitutional. This gave proof that social change could be accomplished without violence King co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and was elected its first president. SCLC has continued to campaign for civil rights. After recovering from a knife attack by a deranged person, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, his birthplace, where he became the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church He continued his work against injustices, and led the march against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama where police attacked unarmed and nonviolent marchers using clubs, dogs, and fire hoses

King cont’d After the Birmingham march, King was jailed and his hotel room bombed but all the while King insisted that his followers remain nonviolent no matter how violent others were to them His famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was written to the clergy in Birmingham scolding them for not taking a stand against injustice King gave his famous (one of the most famous in American History) “I have a dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where 200, 000 people attended Not long after this march, four black girls were killed in a church bombing and 4 black men were beaten unconscious by the Ku Klux Klan

King cont’d The suffering that black people endured led to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by President Johnson that outlawed discrimination and segregation on the basis of color, religions, or national origin For his work on behalf of civil rights, King, age 35, received the Nobel Peace Prize – the youngest man ever to receive this prize After receiving the Nobel award, King continue to lead marches and protests that often landed him in jail He opposed the Vietnam War. This and his civil rights work caused him to have many enemies even in the government. For example, J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI had his agents spy on him In April 4, 1968, at age 39, he was assassinated on the balcony of his hotel room

King cont’d His death led to riots all over the country resulting in 46 deaths His killer, James Earl Ray, pled guilty but then recanted. King’s family never believed that Ray was the actual killer and they developed a close relationship with him while he was in jail

King Quotes Ultimately, a great nation is a compassionate nation Everybody can be great because everybody can serve Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. The time is always right to do what is right Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others? ’ At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love. We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. Means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.

Video I have a Dream Speech

Reference Beller, K. & Chase, H. (2008) Great peacemakers: True stories from around the world. Sedona, AZ: LTS Press