1. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was the preacher of Ebenezer Baptist Church.
2. When Martin Luther King, Jr. was a child, black people faced great discrimination in America. Martin wasn’t allowed to play with white children. Many times when he and his family went to restaurants or businesses, they were asked to give up their seats or use separate and less-quality facilities than white people used. These events left a deep impression on Martin.
3. Martin always did well in school and he was able to go to college early. He graduated from Morehouse University when he was 19 years old. He then went to graduate school at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. He earned his PhD. at Boston University. He met his wife, Coretta Scott, while he was in Boston. They had 2 sons and 2 daughters.
4. Dr. King’s first job after graduation was as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Blacks were segregated from whites all over the South and Montgomery was the city where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white person on a bus. When Dr. King was in college, he had learned about the teachings of Ghandi and “passive resistance”. Dr. King helped organize peaceful protests such as boycotts and sit-ins. Dr. King became a leader of the Civil Rights movement and gave his “I Have A Dream” Speech in 1963 in Washington, DC. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
5. Dr. King’s prominence in the Civil Rights Movement caused him to have many enemies. One of his enemies, a white supremacist, killed Dr. King in Memphis in 1968.
6. In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was established as a national holiday. Martin Luther King Day is always celebrated on the 3rd Monday in January.
