MARTHIN LUTHER KING

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Birth & family

Born at noon on tuesday, january 15, 1929 at the family home in atlanta, martin luther king, jr. Was the first son and second child born to the reverend martin luther king, sr. And alberta williams king. Also born to the kings were first-born christine, now mrs. Isaac farris, sr., and the king's third child reverend alfred daniel williams king, now deceased.

Martin luther king, jr.’s maternal grandparents were the reverend adam daniel williams, second pastor of ebenezer baptist church, and jenny parks williams. His paternal grandparents were james albert and delia king, sharecroppers on a farm in stockbridge, georgia.

He married coretta scott, the younger daughter of obadiah and bernice mcmurry scott of marion, alabama, on june 18, 1953. The marriage ceremony took place on the lawn of the scott’s home in marion, alabama. The rev. King, sr. Performed the service, with mrs. Edythe bagley, the sister of coretta scott king as maid of honor, and the rev. A.d. king, the brother of martin luther king, jr., as best man.

Four children were born to dr. And mrs. King:

Yolanda denise (november 17, 1955, montgomery, alabama)
martin luther iii (october 23, 1957, montgomery, alabama)
dexter scott (january 30, 1961, atlanta, georgia)
bernice albertine (march 28, 1963, atlanta, georgia)

Role played in pan africanism

One of the key aspects of king’s leadership was his ability to coalesce support from many types of organizations including labor unions, peace organizations, southern reform organizations, and religious groups. As early as 1956, labor unions, such as the united packinghouse workers and the united auto workers contributed to the montgomery improvement association and peace activists such as homer jack alerted their associates to the activities of the mia. Activists from southern organizations such as myles horton’s highlander folk school and anne braden’s southern conference education fund were in frequent contact with king. In addition, his extensive ties to the national baptist convention provided support from churches all over the nation; and his advisor, stanley levison insured broad support from jewish groups and trade unions.
King’s recognition of the link between segregation and colonialism resulted in alliances with groups fighting oppression outside the u.s., especially in africa. In march 1957, king traveled to ghana at the invitation of kwame nkrumah to attend the nation’s independence ceremony. Shortly after returning from ghana king joined the american committee on africa agreeing to serve as vice chairman of an international sponsoring committee for a day of protest against south africa’s apartheid government. Later at a sclc sponsored event honoring kenyan labor leader tom mboya, king further articulated the connections between the african-american freedom struggle and those abroad: “we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality”.
During 1959 he increased his understanding of gandhian ideas during a month-long visit to india sponsored by the american friends service committee. With coretta and mia historian lawrence d. Reddick in tow, king met with many indian leaders, including prime minister jawaharlal nehru. Writing after his return, king stated, “i left india more convinced than ever before that nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom”.

Early in 1960 martin luther king, jr. Moved his family, which now included two children, yolanda and martin luther king, iii, to atlanta in order to be nearer sclc headquarters in that city and to become co-pastor, with his father, of ebenezer baptist church. The kings’ third child, dexter, was born in 1961, and their fourth, bernice, in 1963.
In 1961-62, dr. And mrs. King helped lead protests against racial injustice in albany, georgia.
During 1963, king reasserted his preeminence within the african-american freedom struggle through his leadership of the birmingham campaign. Initiated by sclc and its affiliate, the alabama christian movement for human rights, the birmingham demonstrations were the most massive civil rights protest that had yet occurred. With the assistance of fred shuttlesworth and other local black leaders and with little competition from sncc and other civil rights groups, sclc officials were able to orchestrate the birmingham protests to achieve maximum national impact. King’s decision to intentionally allow himself to be arrested for leading a demonstration on 12 april prodded the kennedy administration to intervene in the escalating protests.
A widely quoted “letter from birmingham jail” displayed his distinctive ability to influence public opinion by appropriating ideas from the bible, the constitution, and other canonical texts. During may, televised pictures of police using dogs and fire hoses against young demonstrators generated a national outcry against white segregationist officials in birmingham. The brutality of birmingham officials and the refusal of alabama governor george c. Wallace to allow the admission of black students at the university of alabama prompted president kennedy to introduce major civil rights legislation.
King’s speech at the 28 august 1963 march on washington for jobs and freedom attended by more than 200,000 people, was the culmination of a wave of civil rights protest activity that extended even to northern cities. Closing his address with extemporaneous remarks, he insisted that he had not lost hope: “i say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, i still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the american dream…  that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” he appropriated the familiar words of “my country ’tis of thee” before concluding, “when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of god’s children, black men and white men, jews and gentiles, protestants and catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual, ‘free at last, free at last, thank god almighty, we are free at last’”.
Although there was much elation after the march on washington, less than a month later, the movement was shocked by another act of senseless violence. On 15 september 1963 a dynamite blast killed four young school girls at birmingham’s sixteenth street baptist church. King delivered the eulogy for three of the four girls, reflecting, “they say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, and the philosophy which produced the murders”.
King’s ability to focus national attention on orchestrated confrontations with racist authorities, combined with his oration at the 1963 march on washington, made him the most influential african-american spokesperson of the first half of the 1960s. Named time magazine’s “man of the year” at the end of 1963, he was awarded the nobel peace prize in december 1964. The acclaim king received strengthened his stature among civil rights leaders but also prompted federal bureau of investigation director j. Edgar hoover to step up his effort to damage king’s reputation. Hoover, with the approval of president kennedy and attorney general robert kennedy, established phone taps and bugs.
The alabama protests reached a turning point on 7 march when state police attacked a group of demonstrators at the start of a march from selma to the state capitol in montgomery. Carrying out governor wallace’s orders, the police used tear gas and clubs to turn back the marchers after they crossed the edmund pettus bridge on the outskirts of selma. Unprepared for the violent confrontation, king alienated some activists when he decided to postpone the continuation of the selma to montgomery march until he had received court approval, but the march, which finally secured federal court approval, attracted several thousand civil rights sympathizers, black and white, from all regions of the nation. On 25 march king addressed the arriving marchers from the steps of the capitol in montgomery. The march and the subsequent killing of a white participant, viola liuzzo, as well as the earlier murders of rev. James reeb and jimmie lee jackson dramatized the denial of black voting rights and spurred passage during the following summer of the voting rights act of 1965.

Fter the successful voting rights march in alabama, king was unable to garner similar support for his effort to confront the problems of northern urban blacks. Early in 1966 he, together with local activist al raby, launched a major campaign against poverty and other urban problems and moved his family into an apartment in chicago’s black ghetto. As king shifted the focus of his activities to the north, however, he discovered that the tactics used in the south were not as effective in chicago.
King’s influence was tempered by the increasingly caustic tone of black militancy of the period after 1965. Black radicals increasingly turned away from the gandhian precepts of king toward the black nationalism of malcolm x, whose posthumously published autobiography and speeches reached large audiences after his assassination in february 1965. King refused to abandon his firmly rooted beliefs about racial integration and nonviolence.
In his last book, where do we go from here: chaos or community?, king dismissed the claim of black power advocates “to be the most revolutionary wing of the social revolution taking place in the united states,” but he acknowledged that they responded to a psychological need among african americans he had not previously addressed.  “psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery,” king wrote. “the negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation”.
Indeed, even as his popularity declined, king spoke out strongly against american involvement in the vietnam war, making his position public in an address, “beyond vietnam,” on 4 april 1967 at new york’s riverside church. King’s involvement in the anti-war movement reduced his ability to influence national racial policies and made him a target of further fbi investigations. Nevertheless, he became ever more insistent that his version of gandhian nonviolence and social gospel christianity was the most appropriate response to the problems of black americans.
In december 1967 king announced the formation of the poor people’s campaign, designed to prod the federal government to strengthen its antipoverty efforts. King and other sclc workers began to recruit poor people and antipoverty activists to come to washington, d.c., to lobby on behalf of improved antipoverty programs. This effort was in its early stages when king became involved in the memphis sanitation workers’ strike in tennessee. On 28 march 1968, as king led thousands of sanitation workers and sympathizers on a march through downtown memphis, black youngsters began throwing rocks and looting stores. This outbreak of violence led to extensive press criticisms of king’s entire antipoverty strategy.
Ng returned to memphis for the last time in early april. Addressing an audience at bishop charles j. Mason temple on april 3, 1968, king affirmed his optimism despite the “difficult days” that lay ahead. “but it really doesn’t matter with me now,” he declared, “because i’ve been to the mountaintop [and] i’ve seen the promised land.” He continued, “i may not get there with you. But i want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.” The following evening the assassination of martin luther king, jr. Took place as he stood on a balcony of the lorraine motel in memphis. A white segregationist, james earl ray, was later convicted of the crime. The poor people’s campaign continued for a few months after his death under the direction of ralph abernathy, the new sclc president, but it did not achieve its objectives.
Until his death king remained steadfast in his commitment to the radical transformation of american society through nonviolent activism. In his posthumously published essay, “a testament of hope”, he urged african americans to refrain from violence but also warned, “white america must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society.” The “black revolution” was more than a civil rights movement, he insisted. “it is forcing america to face all its interrelated flaws-racism, poverty, militarism and materialism”.
After her husband’s death, coretta scott king established the atlanta-based martin luther king, jr., center for nonviolent social change (also known as the king center) to promote kingian concepts of nonviolent struggle. She also led the successful effort to honor her husband with a federally mandated king national holiday, which was first celebrated in 1986 additionally, she and the king siblings successfully pursued a civil case in 1999 — king family versus jowers and other unknown co-conspirators (full transcript) — in which the jury concluded that there was a conspiracy involved in the assassination of  dr. King.”
Today, dr. King is considered to be one of the most important figures of the 20th century, not only for african-americans but for all those seeking freedom, justice, equality and peace. His unique approach to the philosophy of nonviolent action stands as one of the most successful alternatives to the world’s ongoing struggle against violent conflict, and against structural injustice

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