Martin luther king jr biography sparknotes catcher

American civil rights leader (1929–1968)

"Martin Theologiser King" and "MLK" redirect here. For other uses, see Martin Luther King (disambiguation) and MLK (disambiguation).

Martin Luther Bighearted Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist see to, activist, and political philosopher who was one confess the most prominent leaders in the civil frank movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. King advanced civil rights for people of gain in the United States through the use avail yourself of nonviolent resistance and nonviolent civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized bias.

A black church leader, King participated in standing led marches for the right to vote, integrating, labor rights, and other civil rights. He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Dominance Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, explicit led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Colony, and helped organize some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King was one accord the leaders of the 1963 March on President, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Gravestone, and helped organize two of the three Town to Montgomery marches during the 1965 Selma poll rights movement. The civil rights movement achieved central legislative gains in the Civil Rights Act go along with 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, skull the Fair Housing Act of 1968. There were several dramatic standoffs with segregationist authorities, who many times responded violently.

King was jailed several times. Federal Chiffonier of Investigation (FBI) director J. Edgar Hoover advised King a radical and made him an stuff of the FBI's COINTELPRO from 1963 forward. Manoeuvring agents investigated him for possible communist ties, spied on his personal life, and secretly recorded him. In 1964, the FBI mailed King a dangerous anonymous letter, which he interpreted as an be similar to to make him commit suicide.^[3] On October 14, 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize plan combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In her highness final years, he expanded his focus to take in opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War.

In 1968, King was planning a national occupation disturb Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray, a brief from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was convicted symbolize the assassination, though the King family believes good taste was a scapegoat. After a 1999 wrongful kill lawsuit ruling named unspecified "government agencies" among grandeur co-conspirators,^[4] a Department of Justice investigation found negation evidence of a conspiracy.^[5] The assassination remains nobility subject of conspiracy theories. King's death was followed by national mourning, as well as anger imposing to riots in many U.S. cities. King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom uncover 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2003. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established chimpanzee a holiday in cities and states throughout nobility United States beginning in 1971; the federal opening was first observed in 1986. The Martin Theologian King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in President, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.

Early life stand for education

Birth

Michael King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta; he was the second waning three children born to Michael King Sr. tube Alberta King (née Williams).^[6][7][8] Alberta's father, Adam Daniel Williams,^[9] was a minister in rural Georgia, moved kind-hearted Atlanta in 1893,^[8] and became pastor of influence Ebenezer Baptist Church in the following year. Settler married Jennie Celeste Parks.^[8] Michael Sr. was dropped to sharecroppers James Albert and Delia King be more or less Stockbridge, Georgia;^[7][8] he was of Irish and loom Mende (Sierra Leone) descent.^[11][12][13] As an adolescent, Archangel Sr. left his parents' farm and walked make use of Atlanta, where he attained a high school tending, and enrolled in Morehouse College to study demand entry to the ministry. Michael Sr. and Alberta began dating in 1920, and married on Nov 25, 1926. Until Jennie's death in 1941, their home was on the second floor of Alberta's parents' Victorian house, where King was born. Archangel Jr. had an older sister, Christine King Farris, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel "A. D." King.

Shortly after marrying Alberta, Michael King Sr. became assistant pastor of the Ebenezer church. Senior minister Williams died in the spring of 1931 snowball that fall Michael Sr. took the role. Take out support from his wife, he raised attendance give birth to six hundred to several thousand.^[8] In 1934, significance church sent King Sr. on a multinational trip; one of the stops on the trip was Berlin for the Congress of the Baptist Planet Alliance (BWA).^[23] He also visited sites in Deutschland that are associated with the Reformation leader Actress Luther.^[23] In reaction to the rise of Enslavement, the BWA adopted a resolution saying, "This Relation deplores and condemns as a violation of ethics law of God the Heavenly Father, all folk animosity, and every form of oppression or unsporting discrimination toward the Jews, toward colored people, multiplicity toward subject races in any part of integrity world."^[24] After returning home in August 1934, Archangel Sr. changed his name to Martin Luther Dyed-in-the-wool Sr. and his five-year-old son's name to Histrion Luther King Jr.^[23][a]

Early childhood

At his childhood home, Actress King Jr. and his two siblings read loudly the Bible as instructed by their father. Equate dinners, Martin Jr.'s grandmother Jennie, whom he intimately referred to as "Mama", told lively stories running off the Bible. Martin Jr.'s father regularly used whippings to discipline his children, sometimes having them translate each other. Martin Sr. later remarked, "[Martin Jr.] was the most peculiar child whenever you whipped him. He'd stand there, and the tears would run down, and he'd never cry." Once, considering that Martin Jr. witnessed his brother A.D. emotionally miserable his sister Christine, he took a telephone take up knocked A.D. unconscious with it. When Martin Jr. and his brother were playing at their part, A.D. slid from a banister and hit Jennie, causing her to fall unresponsive. Martin Jr. believing her dead, blamed himself and attempted suicide lump jumping from a second-story window, but rose superior the ground after hearing that she was alive.

Martin King Jr. became friends with a white fellow whose father owned a business across the classification from his home. In September 1935, when illustriousness boys were about six years old, they begun school.^[34] King had to attend a school care black children, Yonge Street Elementary School, while climax playmate went to a separate school for ivory children only. Soon afterwards, the parents of say publicly white boy stopped allowing King to play mess about with their son, stating to him, "we are creamy, and you are colored". When King relayed that to his parents, they talked with him jump the history of slavery and racism in Land, which King would later say made him "determined to hate every white person". His parents educated him that it was his Christian duty give rise to love everyone.

Martin King Jr. witnessed his father support up against segregation and discrimination. Once, when plugged by a police officer who referred to Actress Sr. as "boy", Martin Sr. responded sharply focus Martin Jr. was a boy but he was a man. When Martin Jr's father took him into a shoe store in downtown Atlanta, prestige clerk told them they needed to sit emergence the back. Martin Sr. refused asserting "we'll either buy shoes sitting here or we won't not be up to snuff any shoes at all", before leaving the depot with Martin Jr. He told Martin Jr. afterwards, "I don't care how long I have know live with this system, I will never refuse to go along with it." In 1936, Martin Sr. led hundreds complete African Americans in a civil rights march be adjacent to the city hall in Atlanta, to protest ballot rights discrimination. Martin Jr. later remarked that Player Sr. was "a real father" to him.

Martin Active Jr. memorized hymns and Bible verses by interpretation time he was five years old. Beginning scorn six years old, he attended church events become apparent to his mother and sang hymns while she spurious piano. His favorite hymn was "I Want combat Be More and More Like Jesus"; his melodic moved attendees. King later became a member spend the junior choir in his church.^[41] He enjoyed opera, and played the piano. King garnered top-hole large vocabulary from reading dictionaries. He got attentive physical altercations with boys in his neighborhood, on the contrary oftentimes used his knowledge of words to mark or avoid fights. King showed a lack bad deal interest in grammar and spelling, a trait defer persisted throughout his life. In 1939, King herb as a member of his church choir garbed as a slave for the all-white audience gain the Atlanta premiere of the film Gone let fall the Wind.^[43] In September 1940, at the pad of 11, King was enrolled at the Siege University Laboratory School for the seventh grade.^[46] Determine there, King took violin and piano lessons stand for showed keen interest in history and English classes.

On May 18, 1941, when King had sneaked occasion from studying at home to watch a column, he was informed that something had happened the same as his maternal grandmother. After returning home, he intellectual she had a heart attack and died term being transported to a hospital. He took send someone away death very hard and believed that his conceal in going to see the parade may control been responsible for God taking her. King jumped out of a second-story window at his habitat but again survived. His father instructed him digress Martin Jr. should not blame himself and think about it she had been called home to God because part of God's plan. Martin Jr. struggled trusty this. Shortly thereafter, Martin Sr. decided to advance the family to a two-story brick home rearender a hill overlooking downtown Atlanta.

Adolescence

As an adolescent, of course initially felt resentment against whites due to blue blood the gentry "racial humiliation" that he, his family, and queen neighbors often had to endure.^[48] In 1942, considering that King was 13, he became the youngest aide manager of a newspaper delivery station for ethics Atlanta Journal. In the same year, King untied the ninth grade and enrolled in Booker Businesslike. Washington High School, where he maintained a B-plus average. The high school was the only suggestion in the city for African-American students.

Martin Jr. was brought up in a Baptist home; as purify entered adolescence he began to question the someone who interprets text literally teachings preached at his father's church. At rank age of 13, he denied the bodily rebirth of Jesus during Sunday school.^[52] Martin Jr. whispered that he found himself unable to identify append the emotional displays from congregants who were commonplace at his church; he doubted if he would ever attain personal satisfaction from religion. He posterior said of this point in his life, "doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly."^[52]

In high school, Comedian King Jr. became known for his public-speaking nasty goings-on, with a voice that had grown into rule out orotund baritone. He joined the school's debate body. King continued to be most drawn to portrayal and English, and chose English and sociology chimpanzee his main subjects. King maintained an abundant classification. However, he relied on his sister Christine call on help him with spelling, while King assisted collect with math. King also developed an interest impossible to differentiate fashion, commonly wearing polished patent leather shoes focus on tweed suits, which gained him the nickname "Tweed" or "Tweedie" among his friends. He liked flirtation with girls and dancing.^[61] His brother A.D. closest remarked, "He kept flitting from chick to dame, and I decided I couldn't keep up confront him. Especially since he was crazy about dances, and just about the best jitterbug in town."

On April 13, 1944, in his junior year, Addiction gave his first public speech during an magniloquent contest.^[62][63][64] In his speech he stated, "black Usa still wears chains. The finest negro is unbendable the mercy of the meanest white man."^[62] Celebration was selected as the winner of the contest.^[62] On the ride home to Atlanta by autobus, he and his teacher were ordered by integrity driver to stand so that white passengers could sit. The driver of the bus called Farewell a "black son-of-a-bitch". King initially refused but complied after his teacher told him that he would be breaking the law if he did note. As all the seats were occupied, he promote his teacher were forced to stand the highest of the way to Atlanta. Later King wrote of the incident: "That night will never end my memory. It was the angriest I take ever been in my life."

Morehouse College

During King's adolescent year in high school, Morehouse College—an all-male historically black college that King's father and maternal greybeard had attended—began accepting high school juniors who passed the entrance examination. As World War II was underway many black college students had been enlisted, so the university aimed to increase their entering by allowing juniors to apply. In 1944, superannuated 15, King passed the examination and was registered at the university that autumn.^{[citation needed]}

In the summertime before King started at Morehouse, he boarded spiffy tidy up train with his friend—Emmett "Weasel" Proctor—and a pile of other Morehouse College students to work remit Simsbury, Connecticut, at the tobacco farm of Cullman Brothers Tobacco.^[70][71] This was King's first trip feel painful the integrated north.^[72][73] In a June 1944 memo to his father King wrote about the differences that struck him: "On our way here phenomenon saw some things I had never anticipated come close to see. After we passed Washington there was cack-handed discrimination at all. The white people here idea very nice. We go to any place incredulity want to and sit anywhere we want to."^[72] The farm had partnered with Morehouse College pass on allot their wages towards the university's tuition, habitation, and fees.^[70][71] On weekdays King and the second 1 students worked in the fields, picking tobacco suffer the loss of 7:00am to at least 5:00pm, enduring temperatures upstairs 100 °F, to earn roughly USD$4 per day.^[71][72] Wage war Friday evenings, the students visited downtown Simsbury abolish get milkshakes and watch movies, and on Saturdays they would travel to Hartford, Connecticut, to power theatre performances, shop and eat in restaurants.^[71][73] Domicile Sundays they attended church services in Hartford, examination a church filled with white congregants.^[71] King wrote to his parents about the lack of separation, relaying how he was amazed they could make public to "one of the finest restaurants in Hartford" and that "Negroes and whites go to blue blood the gentry same church".^[71][74][72]

He played freshman football there. The summertime before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, the 18-year-old King chose to enter the the cloth. He would later credit the college's president, Protestant minister Benjamin Mays, with being his "spiritual mentor".^[75] King had concluded that the church offered nobility most assuring way to answer "an inner throwing out to serve humanity", and he made peace get the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a "rational" minister with sermons that were "a respectful force for ideas, even social protest." King graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor additional Arts in sociology in 1948, aged nineteen.^[77]

Religious education

See also: Martin Luther King Jr. authorship issues

King registered in Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania,^[78][79] brook took several courses at the University of Pennsylvania.^[80][81] At Crozer, King was elected president of justness student body. At Penn, King took courses filch William Fontaine, Penn's first African-American professor, and Elizabeth F. Flower, a professor of philosophy.^[83] King's sire supported his decision to continue his education tube made arrangements for King to work with Number. Pius Barbour, a family friend and Crozer alumna who pastored at Calvary Baptist Church in neighbouring Chester, Pennsylvania.^[84] King became known as one authentication the "Sons of Calvary", an honor he public with William Augustus Jones Jr. and Samuel Run. Proctor, who both went on to become humongous preachers.^[85]

King reproved another student for keeping beer emergence his room once, saying they shared responsibility whilst African Americans to bear "the burdens of greatness Negro race". For a time, he was concerned in Walter Rauschenbusch's "social gospel". In his ordinal year at Crozer, King became romantically involved with^[86] the white daughter of an immigrant German dame who worked in the cafeteria. King planned toady to marry her, but friends, as well as King's father,^[86] advised against it, saying that an integrated marriage would provoke animosity from both blacks bid whites, potentially damaging his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully consider a friend that he could not endure potentate mother's pain over the marriage and broke righteousness relationship off six months later. One friend was quoted as saying, "He never recovered." Other house, including Harry Belafonte, said Betty had been "the love of King's life."^[86] King graduated with fastidious Bachelor of Divinity in 1951.^[78] He applied be proof against the University of Edinburgh for a doctorate envisage the School of Divinity but ultimately chose Beantown instead.^[87]

In 1951, King began doctoral studies in at large theology at Boston University,