A Singular Hero in History by Alisha Adams, MJHS 2013 Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968 A Singular Hero in History by Alisha Adams, MJHS 2013

The Ordinary World of a Pastor Came from a long line of pastors in Georgia Well educated B.A. in 1948 from Morehouse College B.D. in 1951 from Crozer Theological Seminary Doctorate in 1955 from Boston University Became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954. “His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor (Nobel). ” Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. The Ordinary World of a Pastor

Call to Civil Rights Movement “ He had a magnificent speaking ability, which enabled him to effectively express the demands of African Americans for social justice.” (World Book) Member of the leading organization to advance rights for Blacks. In Dec. 1955 he led the first great Black nonviolent demonstration—Bus Boycott. “ He had a magnificent speaking ability, which enabled him to effectively express the demands of African Americans for social justice. King's eloquent pleas won the support of millions of people—blacks and whites—and made him internationally famous.” (World Book) “Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott.” (Nobel)  “In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times…” (Nobel)

“Trials” of Civil Disobedience Inspired by Rosa Parks, Howard Thurman, and Gandhi. Bus Boycott lasted a little over a year. Arrested Home Bombed Personal Abuse “The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.” (Nobel) “King first achieved national renown when he helped mobilize the black boycott of the Montgomery bus system in 1955. This was organized after Rosa Parks, a black woman, refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man - in the segregated south, black people could only sit at the back of the bus. The 382-day boycott led the bus company to change its regulations, and the supreme court declared such segregation unconstitutional.” (BBC) “[MLK] led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times...” (Nobel) “He advocated non-violent direct action based on the methods of Gandhi, who led protests against British rule in India culminating in India's independence in 1947. In 1963, King led mass protests against discriminatory practices in Birmingham, Alabama where the white population were violently resisting desegregation. The city was dubbed 'Bombingham' as attacks against civil rights protesters increased, and King was arrested and jailed for his part in the protests. After his release, King participated in the enormous civil rights march on Washington in August 1963, and delivered his famous 'I have a dream' speech, predicting a day when the promise of freedom and equality for all would become a reality in America.” (BBC) “Trials” of Civil Disobedience

“Achieving” Desegregation 1965 Campaign for Black Voting Rights Man of the Year Nobel Peace Prize Martin Luther King with President Johnson “In 1965, he led a campaign to register blacks to vote. The same year the US Congress passed the Voting Rights Act outlawing the discriminatory practices that had barred blacks from voting in the south.” (BBC) “…he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure…” (Nobel) “At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.” (Nobel) “As the civil rights movement became increasingly radicalized, King found that his message of peaceful protest was not shared by many in the younger generation. King began to protest against the Vietnam war and poverty levels in the US.” (BBC) “Achieving” Desegregation

The Ultimate Unknown: Return Home “Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I'm free at last.” “On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.” (Nobel) “People throughout the world mourned King's death. King was buried in South View Cemetery in Atlanta. His body was later moved near Ebenezer Baptist Church. On King's tombstone are the words: "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I'm free at last." King's assassination produced immediate shock, grief, and anger. Blacks rioted in more than 100 cities.” The Ultimate Unknown: Return Home

A New “World” – A New America “Some historians view King's death as the end of the civil rights era that began in the mid-1950's. Under his leadership, the civil rights movement won wide support among whites, and laws that had barred integration in the Southern States were abolished. King became only the second American whose birthday is observed as a national holiday. The first was George Washington, the nation's first president.” (World Book) “A few months later, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibited racial discrimination in the sale and rental of most housing in the nation.” (World Book) The Washington March http://youtu.be/nFcbpGK9_aw

 "Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)." BBC - History. BBC - History, n.d. Web. 25 Feb 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figur es/king_martin_luther.shtml>. "Martin Luther King Jr. - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 26 Feb 2013 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peac e/laureates/1964/king-bio.html Garrow, David J. "King, Martin Luther, Jr." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2013. Web.  26 Feb. 2013.  Works Cited