LET LEARN FROM THIS GREAT MAN MARTIN LUTHER KING JR and NIGERIA WIL CHANGE Martin Luther King, Jr. King in 1964 Born Michael King, Jr. January 15, 1929 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Died April 4, 1968(aged 39) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. Cause of death Assassination Monuments Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Alma mater *. Morehouse College( B.A.) *. Crozer Theological Seminary( B.D.) *. Boston University( Ph.D.) Occupation Clergyman, activist Organization Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Movement African-American Civil Rights Movement, Peace movement Religion Christianity Denomination Baptist( Progressive National Baptist Convention) Spouse(s) Coretta Scott King(m. 1953–1968) Children *. Yolanda Denise King(1955–2007) *. Martin Luther King III(b. 1957) *. Dexter Scott King(b. 1961) *. Bernice Albertine King(b. 1963) Parents Martin Luther King, Sr. Alberta Williams King Awards Nobel Peace Prize(1964), Presidential Medal of Freedom(1977, posthumous), Congressional Gold Medal(2004, posthumous) Signature Martin Luther King, Jr.(January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using non violent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. He was born Michael King, but his father changed his name in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycottand helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference(SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, in 1962, and organized non violent protests in Birmingham, Alabama, that attracted national attention following television news coverage of the brutal police response. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest oratorsin American history. J. Edgar Hoover considered him a radical and made him an object of the Federal Bureau of Investigations COINTELPROfor the rest of his life. On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prizefor combating racial inequality through non violence. In 1965, he and the SCLC helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marchesand the following year, he took the movement north to Chicagoto work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled Beyond Vietnam. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor Peoples Campaign, when he was assassinatedon April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities. Allegations that James Earl Ray, the man convicted of killing King, had been framed or acted in concert with government agents persisted for decades after the shooting. The jury of a 1999 civil trial found Loyd Jowersto be complicit in a conspiracy against King. The ruling has since been discredited and a sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she in turn corroborated his story in order to get some money to pay her income tax. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] King was post humously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King, Jr. Daywas established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holidayin 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor. In addition, a county was rededicated in his honor. A memorial statueon the National Mall was opened to the public in 2011. Early life and education Kings high school alma mater was named after African-American scholar Booker T. Washington Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr.and Alberta Williams King. [ 3 ]His legal name at birth was Michael Lewis King. [ 4 ]Kings father was also born Michael King. The father changed his and his sons names following a 1934 trip to Germanyto attend the Fifth Baptist World Alliance Congressin Berlin. It was during this time he chose to be called Martin Luther King in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther. [ 5 ]King had Irishancestry through his paternal great-grandfather. [ 6 ] [ 7 ]
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:06:32 +0000
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