Event In History

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His birth certificate listed his first name as Michael but it was later changed to Martin.  Both his father and grandfather served as the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. King Jr. attended both elementary and high school in his home town Atlanta. He later graduated from Morehouse College in 1948 with a degree in Sociology. According to Martin Kelly, About.com Guide, Martin Luther King Jr. further received a Bachelor's of Divinity in 1951 and then a Ph.D. from Boston College in 1955.  It was in Boston where he met and later married Coretta Scott. Together they had four children, two sons and two daughters. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1954 was selected as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

According to Martin Kelly, About.com Guide, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a major part of many nonviolent protests as he helped lead the fight for desegregation and equal rights. He was arrested numerous times. Although Dr. King suffered many set backs he never gave up his fight to end discrimination and segregation.  

In August 1963, Martin Luther King wowed America with his famous “I Have A Dream” speech, delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. His speech demanding racial justice and an integrated society became important to the black community. This speech is as familiar to all generations of Americans as the US Declaration of Independence. According to presentationmagazine.com, Martin Luther King Jr.’s words proved to be a touchstone for understanding the social and political upheaval of the time and gave the nation a vocabulary to express what was happening.

The important message in the speech is that all people are created equal and even though this was not the case in America at the time; Dr. King felt it must be the case for the future. In preparation for his speech he studied the Bible, The Gettysburg Address, and the US Declaration of Independence. Martin refers to all three in his speech. His speech is broken up into two halves.

In the first half of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech he talks about the future and the hope that one day everyone will be treated equal.  Dr. King states: “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand’s of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” He also made it very clear in his next passage that he will not stop fighting for equal rights until there is no discrimination: “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

According to presentationmagazine.com, the second half of the speech paints the dream of a better, fairer future of racial harmony and integration. In this half he devotes his speech to what he sees and hopes for the future. The phrase “I have a dream” is constantly repeated to get his point across to his audience. As Martin Luther King Jr. states “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed --- "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal."

In 1964 Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. He donated the prize money to civil rights groups that were working to secure the rights of blacks. Between 1965 and 1968, Dr. King continued to work and fight for Civil Rights.

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was standing on the balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee when he was shot and killed. James Earl Ray was arrested and charged with the assassination. To this day many people question weather or not James Earl Ray was actually responsible for Martin Luther King Jr.’s death.

Dr. King is responsible for many changes in America because of his leadership.  In 1986 Congress passed a law establishing a national holiday, Martin Luther King Day.

Posted by Katie Hoffmaster