Martin Luther King Junior

1
Martin Luther King Junior

• Charlyce Bozzello
• CL5

2
The Birth of a King

• Martin Luther King Junior was born on January
  15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia.
• His birth name was originally Michael Luther King
  but he legally changed it to Martin.
• He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia where his
  Grandfather was a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist
  Church. Martins father was also a pastor and
  Martin was a co-pastor.
• Growing up, Faith was a very important part of
  Martins life and his faith would be prevalent in
  all the work he did for equal rights.

3
Education

• Martin attended a segregated public school
  throughout his childhood.
• He then went to Crozer Theological Seminary in
  Pennsylvania for three years.
• He was elected president by his senior class
  which was made up of mostly white students.
• He got his Bachelors Degree in 1951.
• He attented Boston University to obtain his
  graduate degree in 1953 and graduated in 1955.

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Even more hard work!

• Kings thirst for knowledge could not be
  quenched. He had skipped ninth and twelfth grade
  and attended Morehouse College at age 15. He
  graduated with a degree in sociology and it was
  after this that he went on to study at Crozer.
• King obtained an abundant amount of degrees in
  his life. He was a doctor in law, divinity and
  social science. His main studies were law, civil
  rights and divinity. This provided him with an
  apparent combination of church and state within
  his studies.

5
Starting a Family

• While attending Boston College, King met a woman
  named Coretta Scott.
• They were married on June 18th, 1953 at the house
  of Corettas mother.
• Kings father married the couple.
• They had four children Yolanda Denise, Martin
  Luther 3rd, Dexter Scott and Bernice Albertine.
• They family moved to Montgomery, Alabama where
  King was pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

6
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Organizations and Prizes

• Throughout his life Martin Luther King was a
  member of important societies that helped lead
  the Civil Rights Movement.
• He was part of the executive committee of the
  National Association for the Advancement of
  colored people, president of the Southern
  Christian Leadership Conference and named man of
  the year in Time Magazine in 1963.
• Martin Luther King was also the youngest man to
  win the Nobel Peace Prize. He took all the money
  he won from the prize and gave it to
  organizations that supported Civil Rights.

7
The Civil Rights Movement Starts

• The first important step in the Civil Rights
  Movement was the Bus Boycott started by Martin
  Luther King
• When Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give
  up her seat in the front of a bus to a white
  person the blacks of the south were outraged.
  King united them and led them in the bus boycott.
  
• The boycott lasted 382 days and started in
  December of 1955
• It was hard for people not to take the bus,
  especially during cold months where walking was
  almost unbearable but the strength of the black
  community helped them through it.
• The boycott was successful. Congress passed a law
  the required non-segregated busses.

8
Death of a King

• On April 4th, 1968 Martin Luther King Junior was
  assassinated by James Earl Ray.
• He was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine
  Motel in Memphis, Tennessee when he was shot.
• James Earl Ray was arrested in London on June 8th
  in the same year.
• His trial was held in Tennessee. He pleaded
  guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in jail.
• Martin Luther King Jr. is buried on Freedom Plaza
  which is surrounded by Freedom Hall of the Martin
  Luther King Jr. Center for Non-violent Social
  Change.

9
Martin Luther Kings Impact

• Martin Luther King was the first black man to
  start a civil rights movement in America. In his
  famous Dream Speech Martin states the
  following
• I have a dream that my four
  little children will one day live in a nation
  where they will not be judged by the color of
  their skin but by the content of their character
• King believed all people are truly created
  equal and deserve equal rights. He did not judge
  people by the color of their skin and he hoped
  that one day he would not be judged by his. King
  was not the beginning of change but a
  continuation of the work set down by Abraham
  Lincoln years before. Lincolns Emancipation
  Proclamation was an inspiring factor for Martin
  Luther King. From the steps of the Lincoln
  Memorial, King gave his speech proclaiming that
  he believed in equality and freedom for all.
  Thanks to Martin Luther King our nation slowly
  began to transform into a place of great
  diversity and acceptance.

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Works Cited

• Martin Luther King Junior, The Noble Peace Prize
  1964. May 22, 2008. http//nobelprize.org/nobel_p
  rizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html
• Brown, Mitchell. Martin Luther King, Jr. A
  Biographical Sketch. 1996. May 22, 2008.
  http//www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs218.html
• The I Have A Dream Speech. 1995. May 22, 2008.
  http//www.usconstitution.net/dream.html