Martin Luther King Jr., Catalyst for a Peaceful Revolution

Martin Luther King received the Nobel Prize for Peacemore than a decade, he spoke at thousands of
for his work leading a peaceful revolution in America'slocations about civil rights and social justice, as well as
civil rights movement.writing five books and several articles on the topic.
Early YearsHe organized many demonstrations advocating
Martin Luther King, Jr., originally Michael Luther King,desegregation, labor rights, and the dismantling of
was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, toprejudice Jim Crow laws.
Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta WilliamsKing's actions cast him and the Civil Rights Movement
King. Both King, Sr. and Alberta preached at theinto the public eye, becoming the focus of
Ebenezer Baptist Church, as King Jr. would later docontemporary media attention. In particular, the
himself. He had an older sister, named Willie Christine,Birmingham protests, which he organized, and the
and a younger brother, named Albert Daniel.March on Washington, for which he represented the
King was exceptionally bright, enrolling at MorehouseSCLC and delivered his famous "I Have a Dream"
College at only fifteen years old. There, he learned aspeech, both during 1963, sparked a great deal of
Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. He then earnedcontroversy. The March on Washington, organized by
a Bachelor of Divinity degree from the Crozerthe so-called Big Six organizations of the Civil Rights
Theological School, before beginning his doctoralMovement, ended up a resounding success. The next
studies in Systematic Theology at Boston University.year, King was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.
There he received his Ph.D. in 1955. While in Boston,He was the youngest recipient in the history of the
King also met and married Corretta Scott King, withaward.
whom he would have two children.Death and Legacy
Early ActivismOn April 4, 1968, King was shot and killed while
In 1954, King accepted his first position as a full-timestanding on a balcony outside his motel room in
pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church inMemphis, Tennessee. The next day,he had been
Montgomery, Alabama. By this point, at the age ofscheduled to lead a protest by the city's garbage
24, he was an executive committee member for theworkers. Though a man named James Earl Ray was
National Association for the Advancement of Coloredaccused of plead guilty to the crime, the exact
People (NAACP). In December of 1955, King helpedcircumstances surrounding his death have been
form the Montgomery Improvement Association, andshrouded in mystery.
took charge of the first major non-violent protest ofSince his death, Martin Luther King, Jr. has been
the civil rights movement, the Montgomery Busrecognized as one of the greatest advocates for
Boycott. The boycott was called in response to theuniversal civil rights in history, as well as one of the
arrest of a woman named Rosa Parks, who refusedmost remarkable modern orators. He is perhaps the
to forfeit her seat on a bus to a white man. Themost recognizable figure of the Civil Rights
boycott lasted for 382 days, only ending when theMovement, and has posthumously received many
Supreme Court declared the forced segregation ofawards and recognitions, including the Presidential
buses unconstitutional.Medal of Freedom.
SCLC - Civil Rights Explosion!For some other great biographies see: Barack Obama
Soon afterwards, in 1957, King was elected president2008, 2008 calendar and Hillary Clinton 2008.
of the newly formed Southern Christian LeadershipBorn: January 15, 1929
Conference (SCLC), which provided a ideological andDied: April 4, 1968
organizational foundation for the growing AmericanFamous For: Leading figure of the Civil Rights
Civil Rights Movement. He implanted into the SCLCMovement and SCLC, one of the greatest American
moral ideas and techniques based on Christianity andorators.
the non-violent teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. For