Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr., also known as MLK, was born on January 15 in 1929 in rural Georgia as Michael King Jr. His father, Michael King Sr., became the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1931. Later, Michael Jr.’s name was changes to Martin Luther in honor of a German Protestant religious leader. Martin had two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother. Martin Jr. grew up in secure environment but no matter what his parents did they could not shield him from racism. He was baptized in 1936 which had very little affect on him. In 1941 his grandmother died from a heart attack when he was only 12 years old. He was so shocked he tried to commit suicide by jumping out of a second story window. He enrolled in Booker t. Washington High School,
He began to rebel against his father’s rules and started to drink in college. He was involved with a white woman and it was hard for him to break the relationship. Martin Luther King Jr. found a role model in his last year in seminary. Benjamin E. Mays was the president of Morehouse College and encouraged King to see Christianity as a way to change society. Martin Luther King Jr. attended Boston University afterwards. It was during these times he met his future wife, Coretta Scott, musician and singer at the New England Conservatory School. They got married in June 1953 and had four lovely children: Yolanda, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott, and Bernice. Martin became pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. When he was only 25 years old, Martin received his Ph.D. Martin Luther King Jr. decided it was his turn to action in society. He didn’t want his children to live in a world where they weren’t treated fairly based on the color of their skin. In Montgomery a woman named Rosa Parks did not give her seat up for a white man on a bus. She was arrested and fined a tremendous amount of
The 1960s was when King made the biggest difference. He gave countless speeches and led many peaceful protests. He was changing American’s attitudes toward blacks. His following accomplishments are the reason he should be honored as the most influential person in this decade. Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged students to continue the sit-in movements at diners. When students were asked to leave their seats they simply refused. By August of 1960 segregation at lunch counters had ended in 27 southern cities. On October 19, 1960 King and a number of students were arrested for refusing to leave a local department store after they were told they would not be served. However, the charges were dropped but King was soon back in jail for violating his probation of his traffic ticket. John F. Kennedy, a presidential candidate at the time, criticized Atlanta for the harsh treatment of King. With the political pressure, King was released. In 1963, King organized a demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama. He was arrested along with several supporters which brought nationwide attention to the situation. Again on August 1963, the march on Washington took place. More than 200,000 people attended the peaceful