Martin Luther King

1
Martin Luther King


2
Early Life

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on Jan 15th 1929
in Atlanta, Georgia
He was the son of a Baptist minister, and after
graduating university with a Batchelor of Arts
degree in sociology, he became a minister like
his father before him
He became the minister of a Baptist church in
Montgomery, Alabama and was soon leading a civil
rights movement

3
Civil Rights Activism

King became the chairman of the Montgomery
Improvement Society, and decided he wanted to
fight against segregation in the racially torn
southern states of the U.S
He declared we will not resort to violence. We
will not degrade ourselves with hatred. Love will
be returned for hate.
After 382 days, the U.S supreme court ruled that
state laws imposing segregation were un
constitutional. Martin Luther Kings campaign
had been successful
He organised the Montgomery Bus Boycott, because
at this time it was compulsory for black people
to give up their seats to a white person

4
Civil Rights Movement

At the age of 36, Martin Luther King was the
youngest person ever to receive a Nobel peace
prize
He organised the Civil Rights Movements to give
black Americans equal rights as white Americans
King continued to campaign for equal rights for
black people

Because of this, he was frequently arrested,
jailed and physically abused but he refused to
give into violence
5
The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

On April 4th 1968, King was assassinated on the
balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis,
Tennessee. Friends inside the motel room heard
the shots and ran to the balcony to find King
shot in the throat. He was pronounced dead at St.
Joseph's Hospital at 705 p.m

To this day, he is still remembered as one of the
most important figures in the civil rights
movements for equality between all races