Martin Luther King Jr

       Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King Jr is famous for his well-known speech “I have a dream”. He was also famous for leading a non-violent protests to fight for the rights of the Afro -Americans for equality. He is one of the greatest speakers in American History.

Martin Luther King Jr was a Civil Rights Leader born in 15th January 1929 Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He had 2 siblings; a younger brother and a older sister. Martin’s dad was a preacher and his mother was a teacher. He studied in Booker T. Washington High School. He was so smart in every subject that he skipped 2 grades and started his college education at the age of 15. After when he got his Bachelors degree in sociology, Martin got another degree for Divinity from Crozer Seminary and then later on, he got his Doctoral degree in Theology in Boston University. In 1953, Martin got married to Coretta Scott King and together they had 4 children; Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter and Bernice.

In Martin’s first Civil Rights major action, Martin was in a Montgomery Bus Boycott. This was when Rosa Parks didn’t want to give her seat to a white person. So on, Martin led a Boycott of the public Transportation System. The Boycott took over a year and it was very strict at times of this. During this time, Martin was arrested and his house was bombed just for this incidence that happened in the bus. In 1963, Martin helped organize the famous march in Washington D.C. Over 250,000 people went to the march in a good way to show the importance of Civil Rights legislation. After marching, Martin read and gave his “I have a dream” speech. This speech became one of the best speeches in world history. The march and Martin’s speech was a great success. In 1963, Martin was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize from Gunnar Jahn in Oslo. He was the youngest person to be awarded this prize. When Martin was offered company at a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, Martin was going to a meeting in the morning. When he was going, Martin was assassinated while standing on the balcony of the hotel in the room. He was shot by a criminal named James Earl Ray at 4th April 1968. Martin was rushed to St Joseph’s Hospital and was in the operating room at 6:00. They opened up his chest to see if they could see the bullet, but nowhere was to be seen. His family was told  that Martin was dead at the time 7:05. In every 3rd Monday of January, there is always a national Holiday called Martin Luther King Jr Day in America. Hundreds of thousands attend this special holiday.

Martin Luther King Jr’s Quote:

“Non-violence means avoiding not only external physical violence but by also internal violence of spirit. Not only do you refuse him to shoot a man, but refuse to hate him.”

By: Raheal Mengistu