Martin Luther King Biography and Works.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Martin Luther King Sr., was a pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. His mother was a schoolteacher.

After graduating from Morehouse College at the age of 19, he decided to enter Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. He won the highest class ranking and a $1,200 fellowship for graduate school. In 1951, he entered the Boston University School of Theology to pursue his Ph.D.

He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he expanded American values to include the vision of a colour blind society, and established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.

Martin became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and stopping the Vietnam War.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’ in 1977 and ‘Congressional Gold Medal’ in 2004. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.

Trivia

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

Quote

“Be a sinner and sin strongly, but more strongly have faith and rejoice in Christ.”