Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Impact
Civil Rights Movement Leader Continues to Inspire
Oct 25, 2009
Martin Luther King Jr. is the son of Reverend Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, Martin was one of four children. The foundation of the Baptist church was strong at the King residence. Both Martin’s father and maternal grandfather were Baptist ministers.
Impact of Martin Luther King Jr's Childhood
Formal academic education began for Martin when he was five years old. He attended the Yonge Street Elementary and later the Howard T. Elementary schools in Atlanta. A studious child, Martin entered college at Morehouse when he was only 15 years old. Until this point, he remained physically close to his family in the city of Atlanta, except for the one trip he took to a tobacco farm in Connecticut.
While working at the farm during the summer prior to entering Morehouse College, Martin was surprised at how African-Americans and Caucasians worked together and interacted peaceably in the North compared to how people from the two races treated one another in the South. According to Biography’s official website, the experience had a profound impact on a young Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tragedy Strikes Young Martin Luther King, Jr.
The sudden death of Martin’s maternal grandmother when Martin was 12 years old had a tremendous effect on the future Civil Rights leader. Martin was distraught after his grandmother passed due to a sudden heart attack. As noted at Biography Tru Story, Martin had been at a parade when he learned of his beloved grandmother’s passing. Martin took the news hard.
Initially law and medicine were the fields that grabbed Martin Luther King, Jr's attention when he entered Morehouse College. At the urging of his father he turned his focus to the ministry. After graduating from Atlanta, Georgia’s Morehouse College in 1948, Martin Luther King, Jr. enrolled at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was the same year that Martin was ordained as a minister.
Martin Learns About Non-Violence
While attending Crozer Theological Seminary, Dr. King learned about Mohandas Gandhi. The introduction would alter Dr. King’s life. Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, Martin would lead for change by practicing non-violence, the same as Gandhi had done in India in effort to gain national freedom from British control.
Two years after he graduated from seminary in 1951, Martin wed Coretta Scott. Martin Luther King, Sr. presided over the wedding ceremony that was held on June 18, 1953.
Soon after the couple wed, changes entered Dr. King’s life at a hastened speed. He worked as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, his wife Coretta Scott’s birth state. Coretta and Martin were married for less than two years when they were thrust into what many consider to be the start of the Civil Rights Movement.
Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She grew up on a farm just outside of Montgomery. She worked at the integrated Maxwell Air Force Base in 1944. The job gave her an early observation of life away from segregation. Eleven years after she started to work at Maxwell Air Force Base and after a long day of work, Rosa Parks was arrested for violating Jim Crow law by refusing to give up her seat to a white man.
Martin Luther King Jr. Books and Speeches
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr., The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr. and The Measure of a Man are books written by and about the Civil Rights leader.
Readers, students, educators and community leaders can locate books and speeches written or given by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at local libraries or bookstores like Amazon.com, Cushcity.com, Target, Walmart, Kmart, Borders, Barnes and Noble or Waldenbooks. The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia also houses writings and speeches given by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sources:
The King Center Official Website. 25 October 2009.
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