Michael Luther King Jr., later renamed Martin, was born to school­teacher Alberta King and Baptist minister Michael Luther King on January 15, 1929. His boyhood passed in Sweet Auburn district.

MARTIN LUTHER KING

(1929-1968)

Michael Luther King Jr., later renamed Martin, was born to school­teacher Alberta King and Baptist minister Michael Luther King on January 15, 1929. His boyhood passed in Sweet Auburn district.

In 1948 King graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga.

In 1951 King graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pa.

King married Coretta Scott in Marion, Ala. in 1953. They had four children: Yolanda Denise (b.1955), Martin Luther King III (b.1957), Dexter (b.1961), Bernice Albertine (b.1963).

In 1954 King moved to Montgomery, Ala. to preach at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. There he became famous as a leader of the Montgomery boycott. Black and white people were not treated at the same manner on the buses. Black people had to give up their seats to white people. Everyone paid the same fare, but black people had to go to the back of the bus. The black community decided to boycott the bus company until the rules were changed.

The Montgomery boycott continued for almost a year. Black people refused to ride buses, they walked long distances to work, to church, to see friends, etc. In 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation in Montgomery was illegal.

The Montgomery boycott proved that nonviolent actions could bring about real changes in the laws of the United States.

In 1957 black ministers formed what became known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King was named first president.

In this typical year of demonstrations, King travelled 780,000 miles and made 208 speeches.

In 1958 King published his first book, «Stride Toward Free­dom» (Harper), his recollections of the Montgomery bus boycott.

King visited India in 1959. He had a lifelong admiration for Mohandas K. Gandhi, and credited Gandhi’s passive resistance techniques for his civil-rights successes. Nonviolent actions be­came the basic rule of the Civil Rights movement.

King leaved for Atlanta in 1960 to pastor his father’s church.

In 1962 King met with President John F. Kennedy to urge support for civil rights.

In 1963 King led protests in Birmingham for desegregated department store facilities, and fair hiring.

King was arrested after demonstrating in defiance of a court order. Then King wrote «Letter From Birmingham Jail.» This eloquent letter, later widely circulated, became a classic of the civil-rights movement.

On August 28,1963, 250,000 civil-rights supporters attended the March on Washington. At the Lincoln Memorial, King deliv­ered the famous

«I have a dream» speech.

In 1964 King published his book «Why We Can’t Wait».

On December 10, 1964, Martin Luther King received the Nobel Peace Prize. It was a great day for all progressive Americans.

Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, by James Earl Ray.

On January 20, 1986 was the first national celebration of King’s birthday as a holiday.

Questions

1. What were King’s parents?

2. Tell about the Montgomery boycott.

3 What did Martin Luther King feel for Mohandas K. Gandhi?

4 When did Martin Luther King receive the Nobel Peace Prize?

Whom did King meet with about voting rights for Afri­can Americans?

6 When was King assassinated?

7 When was the first national celebration of King’s birth­day as a holiday?

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