Anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death

“I have a dream” - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

(Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born as Michael Luther King Jr. on January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. His father changed both his son’s name and his own name to Martin Luther King in 1934 after a trip to Berlin, Germany in honor to Martin Luther. King was apart of his church’s choir as a child.

(King as a child)

King was regularly beat by his father until he was 15 years old. During King’s adolescent years he went through a depression. At age 12 King attempted suicide by jumping out of a 2nd story window after the death of his grandmother. At age 13 King started to doubt Christianity. Later he concluded that the Bible has "many profound truths which one cannot escape" and decided to enter the seminary. In high school King became a part of the debate team. In 1942 King became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the “Atlanta Journal”. In his junior year of high school King won an award in an oratorical contest, on the bus ride home King was forced to stand to let White people sit. At 1st he refused but he did get up due to his teacher telling him it is unlawful not to get up. Being a great student King was able to skip both the 9th and 12th grades. In 1948 King graduated from Morehouse college with a B.A. degree in sociology.

(King (Center) graduating from college)

In 1951 King graduated with a B.Div. degree from Crozer Theological Seminary. In 1953 King married Coretta Scott.

(King (Left) with his wife Coretta Scott (Right))

In 1955 King received his Ph.D at Boston University in systematic theology.

(Dr. King with his Ph.D)

In late 1955 King and E.D. Nixon led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted 385 days.

That same year King’s house was bombed. King was arrested for his involvement in the bus boycott and his involvement made him into a national figure for civil rights.

(Dr. King during the Montgomery Bus Boycott)

In 1957 King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, Joseph Lowery, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SCLC's 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was the first time King addressed a national audience.

(Dr. King at the SCLC headquarters)

In 1958 while King was signing copies of his book Stride Towards Freedom a mentally ill woman stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener.

(Dr. King after being stabbed)

In 1959 King published a short book called The Measure of A Man. In 1961 King and the SCLC became involved with the Albany Movement. In December of 1961 when King visited the group in Albany, GA the Albany police department arrested King and several others involved in the Albany Movement due to the fact they were peaceful demonstrators. In July of 1962 King was sentenced to 45 days in jail or a $178 fine and he chose jail. 3 days into his sentence he was bailed out. In 1962 King and the Gandhi Society produced a document calling on President Kennedy to follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and use an Executive Order to deliver a blow for Civil Rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation. In April of 1963 the SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in Birmingham, AL. King and the SCLC organized sit ins and peaceful protests. During the peaceful protests the Birmingham police led by Eugene “Bull” Connor attacked the protestors with attack dogs, high pressure water hoses and riot police. King was arrested during this and he wrote his Letter From Birmingham Jail which responds to calls on the movement to pursue legal channels for social change.

(Dr. King’s mugshot)

These actions were broadcasted on national TV. Connor then lost his job and Jim Crow signs came down in Birmingham. In August of 1963 King and the SCLC organized the March on Washington. The march made specific demands which were an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers; and self-government for Washington, D.C. King made his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln memorial.

(Dr. King during the March on Washington)

The March of Washington helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The FBI under the orders of Robert Kennedy began tapping King’s telephone calls in fall of 1963. In March of 1964 King and the SCLC joined forces with Robert Hayling's movement in St. Augustine, FL. The movement marched nightly through the night and were faced with Klan attacks. Also in March of 1964 Dr. King met with Malcolm X.

(Dr. King (Left) with Malcolm X (Right))

In December of 1964 King and the SCLC joined with SNCC in Selma, AL.

(Dr. King with SNCC member Stokely Carmichael (In White Shirt))

In March of 1965 the SCLC and SNCC attempted the 1st march from Selma to Montgomery but while crossing over the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma a group of Alabama state troopers stopped the marchers and beat them severely. This was known as “Bloody Sunday”. King was not present with this 1st march. 4 days later King was present with the group of marchers but before they crossed the bridge King stopped and prayed and he turned the marchers around. On March 25th of 1965 the march went on all the way to Montgomery. King made a speech at the capital known as “How Long, Not Long”.

(King with his wife Coretta Scott-King during the Selma to Montgomery march)

In 1966 King and the SCLC formed a coalition with the CCCO in Chicago, IL. The goal was to spread the movement through the North. A lot of marches were met with the same and even worse retaliation than in the South. In one of the marches King was hit with a brick but continued with the march. When King left Chicago, Jesse Jackson was placed in charge in Chicago.

(Jesse Jackson (Left) and Dr. King (Right))

In 1967 King openly spoke against the Vietnam War saying the U.S. just wanted to further colonization and because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. In April of 1967 King participated in and spoke at an anti-war march from New York's Central Park. In 1968 King and the SCLC organized the "Poor People's Campaign" to address issues of economic justice. King called on the U.S. government to rebuild its cities. In March of 1968 King visited Memphis, TN in support of the black sanitary public works employees. On April 3rd King delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech.

(Dr. King making his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech)

On April 4th, 1968 King was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 39 years old.

(Dr. King’s funeral)

Today is the 49th anniversary of his death. Take time to remember this great civil rights activist today.

Books by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958)
• Strength to Love (1963)
• Why We Can’t Wait (1963)
• Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
• The Trumpet of Conscience (1968)

Videos of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0yP4aLyq1g  “Martin Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech - August 28, 1963 (Full Speech)”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLohgXpZuZo  “Martin Luther King on the Montgomery Bus Boycott”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oehry1JC9Rk  “Martin Luther King's Last Speech: "I've Been To The Mountaintop"”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Doi_U0f8OA  “Rare Dr Martin Luther King Talks Reparations Civil Rights Not Enough For Black Folk YouTube”