“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.“-Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. King was right and followed his word with peacful protest against racial segregation in the U.S.
M.L.K. Jr. was born on January 15 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His mother’s name was Alberta Willliams King and his father was Martin Luther King Sr. She died in 1974 and he died one year after, in 1984. MLK Jr. was born with the name Michael but his father changed it in honor to a German reformer, Martin Luther. He grew up in rural Georgia, where he was born. He was the middle child of the King family with a older sister, Christine King Farris (who’s still alive) and a little brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King (who was found dead in a swimming pool on July 21 1969) Dr. King got his Ph.D. from Boston University. King Jr. attempted to commit suicide after his grandmother’s death on May 18 1941.
Martin Luther King Jr. played a key role in the American civil rights movement, and is one of the most famous civil rights activists in America. He was inspired by other famous activists such as Ghandi. During his involvement in the civil right movement Dr. King was followed and investigated by the FBI. The FBI thought he was tied with being a communist, they mailed an anonymous letter to try and get MLK Jr. to commit suicide. He won Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his involvement in the civil rights movement. Dr. King Jr. was sent many death threats for his involvement and was once stabbed in the chest, his house was also bombed. M.L.K Jr. focused on poverty in America and he also worked to end to Vietnam War. He believed in nonviolent protest and equal rights for all. He was a christian minister before he got involved with activist. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was one of MLK Jr.’s main accomplishments.
He was assassinated on April 4, 1929. M.L.K. Jr. was shot by James Earl Ray on the second-floor balcony in Lorraine Motel. He was shot the day after his “I’ve been to the mountain top“ speech in Memphis, Tennessee. He was announced dead at St. Joseph Hospital at 7:05pm after emergency chest surgery. The main legacy Dr. King Jr. left behind was assure progress on the civil rights in the U.S., which he did. A couple days after his death Congress passed the Civil Rights of 1968 a.k.a Fair Housing Rights. M.L.K. Jr. inspired many such as South American leader Albert Lutuli. Mr. Lutuli was another black Nobel Peace Prize winner who fought for civil rights in his country. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.”-MLK Jr.
