Martin Luther King, Jr.

In founding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave momentum to the civil rights movement. Dr. King's persistent efforts, inspiring oratory and non-violent protests, despite physical attacks, death threats, and retaliatory violence, brought America closer to his dream of equality for all.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others."

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Born: January 15, 1929 Atlanta, Georgia
Died: April 4, 1968 Memphis, Tennessee

His oratorical skills fueled the torch of non-violent resistance. As a major civil rights advocate, his leadership brought about significant changes in American law and social practices. Martin Luther King, Jr. lived, and died, for the cause of civil rights, leading the movement for 15 years in a variety of roles. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference after leading a year-long boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama bus system, which ultimately resulted in the Supreme Court decision outlawing discrimination in public transportation. He led non-violent demonstrations and marches to protest segregation in Birmingham, Alabama (1963), St. Augustine, Florida (1964) and Selma, Alabama (1965). But his crowning moment came on August 28, 1963 when he led the civil rights March on Washington and gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Michael L. King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son and grandson of Baptist ministers. As the son of "substantial" black parents, young Martin was protected to some degree from the more sinister experiences of segregation and racial hostility. In school he was a teacher's dream - smart, disciplined, well mannered - and he breezed through with such good marks that he skipped grades in elementary and high school.

At age 14, King entered an oratorical contest and spoke on "The Negro and the Constitution". He won first prize. At age 15 he entered Morehouse College under a program for gifted students, receiving his B.A. in 1948 at the age of 19. His earlier interests were medicine and law but were eclipsed by a decision to enter the ministry, as his father had urged. During his three years at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA, King attended a lecture on Indian pacifist Mahatma Gandhi, which provided a basis for his life-long philosophy of non-violence. King reportedly said afterward, "His message was so profound and electrifying, that I left the meeting and bought a half a dozen books on Gandhi's life and works."

From Crozer, King entered Boston University as a doctoral student and there met his future wife, Coretta Scott. They were married in June, 1953. From 1955 to 1965, four children were born to the King household; Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter and Bernice. King received his doctorate (Ph.D.) in 1954. While finishing his doctorate, King was appointed pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

In December 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for quietly refusing to surrender her seat on a Montgomery bus. Her supporters, including King, fellow minister Ralph Abernathy and the state chairman of the NAACP, formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and organized the boycott of the town's bus company, which lasted for over a year. Finally, the company executives gave in and segregated seating was abolished. The real victory, however, came when the Supreme Court ultimately affirmed that Montgomery's bus segregation laws were unconstitutional.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and more than 50 African American ministers met in Atlanta in January 1957 to continue the fight for civil rights. They formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and elected King president. The SCLS provided King the vehicle needed for national exposure of civil rights issues. For the next several years, King helped lead numerous protest demonstrations throughout the South. Additionally, his SCLC position allowed him to meet with world leaders on issues of justice and civil rights.

In 1958, King wrote a book titled Stride Toward Freedom. During an autograph signing of his book, he was stabbed by a mentally ill woman. He later went on to write three more books and 60 magazine articles. He was frequently arrested and jailed for civil disobedience. King often chose to remain in jail, rather than be released on bail, because of the added visibility it afforded the civil rights cause.

The SCLC sponsored a series of meetings throughout the south in early 1958 to increase the number of black voters. In 1960, the group organized a conference to coordinate the popular "sit-in" movement that African American students were using to protest segregation at city lunch counters. This conference spurred the establishment of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which worked closely with the SCLC in it's early days.

By August, the sit-ins had succeeded in ending the lunch counter segregation in 27 southern cities. The SCLC then elected to pursue an end to all segregation in public transportation, waiting rooms and schools, as well as emphasizing voter registration and using boycotts to obtain fair employment and benefits for African Americans. King was arrested at one event with the group in Atlanta, but through presidential candidate John F. Kennedy's intervention, King was released. Although King and the SCLC continued to preach nonviolence, violence was often the response to the group's efforts.

1963 was an eventful year for King. He marched with 125,000 people in a "Freedom Walk" in Detroit. On August 28, he led more than 250,000 black and white Americans in the "March on Washington," where he gave his visionary "I Have a Dream Speech." Later that year, he was named Time magazine's "Man of the Year."

In 1964, he and his followers worked to desegregate St. Augustine, Florida - one of the most segregated cities in the U.S. A biracial committee was established to achieve this goal. Only a few weeks later, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Bill. And in December, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for his extensive work in the civil rights arena.

King and the SCLC helped organize more marches in 1965, one was to begin in Selma, Alabama in order to help African-Americans be allowed to register to vote. Governor George Wallace had issued an order prohibiting the march which turned bloody when state highway patrolmen and sheriffs deputies attacked the marchers. It took two more attempts for the march to complete its journey to Montgomery. On March 25, 1965 about 25,000 marchers reached Montgomery in relative peace.

In 1967, King broadened his focus again. Increasingly troubled by the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war, he began speaking out against it. He and other antiwar leaders staged a rally in Washington in February 1968. He had also started working on behalf of the poor, and began organizing a Poor People's March for April 1968.

By 1968, however, friends began to feel King was weary. Colleagues thought he seemed depressed and anxious. In late March, King visited Memphis, Tennessee to support black sanitation workers who were protesting unequal pay and poor working conditions. He led demonstrations there in March, which ended in riots and violent police retaliation.

On April 4, 1968, on the way to dinner, he was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN.

Martin Luther King, Jr. never gave up on his beliefs. Despite physical attacks, death threats, retaliatory violence, and the increasing militancy of younger blacks, King continued using his acclaimed oratorical skills and non-violent methods to pursue the goals of equality and justice.

King's efforts and tireless work toward the progression of civil rights helped bring about uncounted changes in America. He lobbied endlessly to declare all forms of segregation illegal. He challenged the segregation and injustices prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s in America and inspired others to do the same. Because of his dedication, the U.S. Supreme court outlawed segregation on trains and in railroad stations and bus terminals. In 1986, most states began recognizing a national holiday in his honor.


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