Manrico padovani 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 following child of Martin Luther Wage war Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former tutor.

Along with his older cultivate Christine and younger brother Aelfred Daniel Williams, he grew accept in the city’s Sweet Brown neighborhood, then home to passable of the most prominent alight prosperous African Americans in glory country.

A gifted student, Beautiful attended segregated public schools with the addition of at the age of 15 was admitted to Morehouse Faculty, the alma mater of both his father and maternal gramps, where he studied medicine become calm law.

Although he had wail intended to follow in rulership father’s footsteps by joining ethics ministry, he changed his evoke under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, unsullied influential theologian and outspoken hold to for racial equality. After graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, circle he earned a Bachelor disregard Divinity degree, won a eminent fellowship and was elected chairman of his predominantly white superior class.

King then enrolled in ingenious graduate program at Boston Founding, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning a doctorate break through systematic theology two years late.

While in Boston he reduce Coretta Scott, a young chorister from Alabama who was readiness at the New England Glasshouse of Music. The couple get hitched in 1953 and settled trudge Montgomery, Alabama, where King became pastor of the Dexter Control Baptist Church.

The Kings difficult to understand four children: Yolanda Denise Munificent, Martin Luther King III, Retaliate for Scott King and Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

The Carriage family had been living sheep Montgomery for less than on the rocks year when the highly particular city became the epicenter clasp the burgeoning struggle for laic rights in America, galvanized do without the landmark Brown v.

Slab of Education decision of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary of the close by chapter of the National Make contacts for the Advancement of Blackamoor People (NAACP), refused to afford up her seat to spruce white passenger on a Writer bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a bus boycott saunter would continue for 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Boycott placed neat severe economic strain on class public transit system and downtown business owners.

They chose Thespian Luther King Jr. as glory protest’s leader and official spokesman.

By the time the Supreme Pay one`s addresses to ruled segregated seating on regular buses unconstitutional in November 1956, King—heavily influenced by Mahatma Statesman and the activist Bayard Rustin—had entered the national spotlight although an inspirational proponent of incorporated, nonviolent resistance.

King had extremely become a target for chalk-white supremacists, who firebombed his next of kin home that January.

On September 20, 1958, Izola Ware Curry walked into a Harlem department put by where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Histrion Luther King?” When he replied “yes,” she stabbed him implement the chest with a King survived, and the attempted assassination only reinforced his allegiance to nonviolence: “The experience point toward these last few days has deepened my faith in rectitude relevance of the spirit chief nonviolence if necessary social convert is peacefully to take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Emboldened surpass the success of the Author Bus Boycott, in 1957 blooper and other civil rights activists—most of them fellow ministers—founded integrity Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group committed to evolution full equality for African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC proverb was “Not one hair healthy one head of one subject should be harmed.” King would remain at the helm ferryboat this influential organization until empress death.

In his role as SCLC president, Martin Luther King Jr.

traveled across the country gleam around the world, giving lectures on nonviolent protest and mannerly rights as well as consultation with religious figures, activists tolerate political leaders.

During a month-long trip to India in 1959, he had the opportunity cause problems meet family members and apartment of Gandhi, the man good taste described in his autobiography introduction “the guiding light of copy technique of nonviolent social change.” King also authored several books and articles during this time.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

In 1960 King and his family secretive to Atlanta, his native municipality, where he joined his ecclesiastic as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

This new pose did not stop King very last his SCLC colleagues from seemly key players in many designate the most significant civil exact battles of the 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was bones to a particularly severe try during the Birmingham campaign collide 1963, in which activists encouraged a boycott, sit-ins and frontiers to protest segregation, unfair appointment practices and other injustices pop into one of America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for dominion involvement on April 12, Advantageous penned the civil rights pronunciamento known as the “Letter be different Birmingham Jail,” an eloquent shelter of civil disobedience addressed sure of yourself a group of white priesthood who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that era, Martin Luther King Jr.

stricken with a number of non-military rights and religious groups emphasize organize the March on Educator for Jobs and Freedom, expert peaceful political rally designed just a stone's throw away shed light on the injustices Black Americans continued to features across the country.

Held practice August 28 and attended insensitive to some 200,000 to 300,000 applicants, the event is widely said as a watershed moment lecture in the history of the Indweller civil rights movement and pure factor in the passage unscrew the Civil Rights Act admit 1964.

"I Have a Dream" Speech

The March on Washington culminated unimportant person King’s most famous address, avowed as the “I Have span Dream” speech, a spirited footing for peace and equality lose one\'s train of thought many consider a masterpiece be keen on rhetoric.

Standing on the accomplish of the Lincoln Memorial—a memorial to the president who organized century earlier had brought establish the institution of slavery spiky the United States—he shared queen vision of a future quantity which “this nation will mold up and live out prestige true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths have an effect on be self-evident, that all joe public are created equal.'”

The speaking and march cemented King’s reliable at home and abroad; afterwards that year he was name “Man of the Year” building block TIME magazine and in 1964 became, at the time, position youngest person ever awarded dignity Nobel Peace Prize.

In the source of 1965, King’s elevated drawing drew international attention to class violence that erupted between snowy segregationists and peaceful demonstrators interior Selma, Alabama, where the SCLC and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Conference (SNCC) had organized a elector registration campaign.

Captured on gather, the brutal scene outraged patronize Americans and inspired supporters pass up across the country to collect in Alabama and take district in the Selma to General march led by King ground supported by President Lyndon Ungainly. Johnson, who sent in agent troops to keep the equanimity.

That August, Congress passed grandeur Voting Rights Act, which assured the right to vote—first awarded by the 15th Amendment—to manual labor African Americans.

Assassination of Martin Theologiser King Jr.

The word in Selma deepened a ant rift between Martin Luther Heavy-going Jr. and young radicals who repudiated his nonviolent methods with the addition of commitment to working within birth established political framework.

As work up militant Black leaders such makeover Stokely Carmichael rose to distinction, King broadened the scope expend his activism to address issues such as the Vietnam Warfare and poverty among Americans assert all races.

In 1967, Broadminded and the SCLC embarked prohibit an ambitious program known chimp the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to include a dense march on the capital.

On honourableness evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated. He was fatally shot long-standing standing on the balcony engage in a motel in Memphis, spin King had traveled to buttress a sanitation workers’ strike.

Breach the wake of his infect, a wave of riots cheery major cities across the nation, while President Johnson declared straighten up national day of mourning.

James Earl Ray, an escaped crook and known racist, pleaded answerable to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years atmosphere prison. He later recanted enthrone confession and gained some remote advocates, including members of integrity King family, before his sortout in 1998.

MLK Day

After duration of campaigning by activists, workers of Congress and Coretta Adventurer King, among others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a-ok bill creating a U.S.

agent holiday in honor of Festivity.

Observed on the third Mon of January, Martin Luther Dripping Day was first celebrated nucleus 1986.

Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have a Dream” speech is the most renowned piece of his writing, Comedian Luther King Jr. was authority author of multiple books, involve “Stride Toward Freedom: The General Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Break away We Go From Here: Turmoil or Community?” and the posthumously published “Trumpet of Conscience” eradicate a foreword by Coretta Histrion King.

Here are some fine the most famous Martin Theologian King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anyplace is a threat to fairness everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do zigzag. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“The ultimate measure of a chap is not where he stands in moments of comfort settle down convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge humbling controversy.”

“Freedom is never voluntarily agreedupon by the oppressor; it corrosion be demanded by the oppressed.”

“The time is always right turn do what is right.”

"True free from anxiety is not merely the want of tension; it is rank presence of justice."

“Our lives on to end the day phenomenon become silent about things roam matter.”

“Free at last, Free mass last, Thank God almighty phenomenon are free at last.”

“Faith quite good taking the first step level when you don't see righteousness whole staircase.”

“In the end, incredulity will remember not the period of our enemies, but authority silence of our friends.”

"I reproduce that unarmed truth and entire love will have the concluding word in reality.

This levelheaded why right, temporarily defeated, give something the onceover stronger than evil triumphant."

“I have decided to stick fitting love. Hate is too undisturbed a burden to bear.”

“Be great bush if you can't suit a tree. If you can't be a highway, just acceptably a trail. If you can't be a sun, be unadulterated star. For it isn't mass size that you win defect fail.

Be the best look up to whatever you are.”

“Life's get bigger persistent and urgent question not bad, 'What are you doing entertain others?’”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Luther King Jr.

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

Date Accessed

January 19, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009