One of the world's best-known supporters of non-violent social change, Martin Luther King, Jr., put together ideas from many different cultural traditions. He was born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929; King's roots were in the African-American Baptist church. He was the grandson of the Rev. A. D. Williams, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church and a founder of Atlanta's NAACP chapter. King saw the church could help the lives of African Americans. King decided, after his junior year at Morehouse, to become a minister and serve society. He received a doctorate in systematic theology in 1955 from Boston University. On December 5, 1955, five days after Montgomery civil rights activist, Rosa Parks refused sit in the back of the bus. Blacks started a bus boycott and asked King to lead it. As the boycott continued into 1956, King gained national importance for his speaking skills and courage. Because of Dr. King's efforts, Montgomery buses were desegregated in December 1956, after the United States Supreme Court declared Alabama's segregation laws unconstitutional. In 1957 King and other southern black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As SCLC's president, King talked about the goal of Black voting rights when he spoke at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. During 1958, he published his first book, Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. The following year, he toured India, increasing his understanding of Gandhian non-violent strategies. During 1963, he and his staff guided mass demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama, where local white police officials were known for their anti-black attitudes. Fights between black demonstrators and police with police dogs and fire hoses made headlines through the world. In June, President Kennedy agreed to submit broad civil rights legislation to Congress (which eventually passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964). Mass demonstrations in many communities culminated in a march On Washington, D. C., in August 28, 1963, that attracted more than 250,000 protesters. Addressing the marchers from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" oration. During the year following the March, King's fame grew, as he became Time magazine's Man of the Year and, in December 1964, the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, while seeking to assist a garbage workers' strike in Memphis. After his death, King remained a controversial symbol of the African-American civil rights struggle, revered by many for his martyrdom on behalf of non-violence and condemned by others for his militancy and insurgent views. |
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