Jan, 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968
Overview:
Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most prominent black leaders our nation has ever known. Advocating non-violence and passive resistance he took major steps towards creating a nation where all men are created equal.
Country:
United States of America
Type
of hero: Civil and Political Rights
Attributes:
Black leader, Civil Rights Activist, Minister, Peacemaker
Biography:
Michael King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia to Michael King Sr. and Alberta Christine Williams King. Both Michael and his father later adopted the name Martin Luther after the prominent religious figure that founded the Lutheran denomination. King was very intelligent and graduated high school in just two years at the age of fifteen. By the time he was nineteen he graduated from college. Studying to be a Baptist minister, he soon thereafter received his doctorate from Boston University.
In 1953 King married Coretta Scott, together they had four children: Yolanda, Martin, Dexter and Bernice. A year after his marriage Luther was appointed the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He soon developed a great deal of concern for the welfare of all people, branching into a concern for the lack of Civil Rights for African Americans. He advocated non-violence and passive resistance .
On December 1, 1955 a black lady refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Birmingham bus. Her name was Rosa Parks. This event caused a whirlwind of events that launched King into world fame. Parks refusal to give up her seat, and fortitude to stand up for her beliefs, caught many people’s attention, including King’s. He and a group of black leaders decided to boycott the buses, a form of non-violent passive resistance. Since black people made up the majority of the bus company’s customers they expected the boycott not to last very long. However, for 368 days black people carpooled or walked instead of using the bus. On December 5, 1955 a list of three demands was sent to the bus companies. 1) courteous treatment by the bus drivers, 2) seat people first come first serve and not according to color, and 3) have black bus drivers in the black areas of town.
The bus boycott infuriated many people. The bus companies had King arrested and the carpools declared illegal. King became an internationally known figure as news of the Montgomery bus boycott spread quickly. Aid in the form of money came form Latin America, Asia, and Europe, as well as from many parts of the United States, all to help King in his fight for civil rights. King’s house was even bombed narrowly missing his family and himself. Shortly after the bombing King himself stood on his charred doorstep facing an angry mob of black people revengeful for the bombing. There seemed to be nothing that the police could do to stop the onslaught of a bloody riot. Immediately his presence silenced the crowd and he pleaded to the people, “don’t get panicky, don’t get panicky at all. Don’t get your weapons. Please be peaceful, I want you to love your enemies. Be good to them. Love them and let them know you love them.” There was no riot. King’s words were repeated on television and printed in newspapers. Americans saw that he was adamant about non-violence. As King said, “The strong man, is the man who can stand up for his rights and not hit back.”
Finally in 1956 the United States Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of Black and white people on vehicles engaged in interstate commerce was illegal. The Court’s ruling put an end to the bus boycott and signified a major victory in King’s fight for Civil Rights. Yet, there were many more battles to be won and all the while King continued to preach tactics of kindness and gentleness, never force. He lead peaceful marches against all-white schools, restaurants, and movie theatres. He also tried to make it possible for Blacks to vote in primary and general elections.
King emerged as a new kind of American hero. Everytime he was put in jail or beaten he won new followers who identified with his ideas. Soon demonstrations and marches not only consisted of black people but white people too. On August 28, 1963 King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in front of more than a quarter million diverse people in front of the Lincoln memorial. His words carried around the globe and into people’s hearts. He was now the most prominent figure for America’s blacks.
In 1964 King received the Nobel Peace prize because of his outstanding contributions to the cause of peace. At the age of thirty-five he was the youngest person ever to receive it. Upon accepting the award he once again demonstrated his extraordinary character, humbly suggesting that the prize did not belong to him but rather the many people, black and white, which were still working toward an era of non-violence and love in the United States.
Not all people believed that non-violence was the answer. Prominent black leaders such as Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown disagreed with King’s philosophy and preached rebellion and to fight back. By 1968 rights for African Americans had become a nightmare. Many believed that the country was on the verge of racial warfare. A war that would end in the utter destruction of the black people.
King still stood strong, and refused to change his mind about non-violence. He knew that whites not only held a numerical advantage but had the weapons as well. Sadly he never got much of a chance to once again prove that non-violence really worked. On April 4,1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, King was assassinated by a white man named James Earl Ray. He was leading a sanitation workers’ strike over wages.
King was a man who practiced what he preached. His life was dedicated to the fight for human rights for all. It serves as an example of love for humanity in the spirit of kinship.
Citations
& References:
Links:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/
http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/king.html
References
Jacobs, William Jay. Human Rights Great Lives New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1990, pp. 257-266
McDaniel, Karen Cotton. Black Heroes of the 20th Century. Ed. Jessie Carney Smith. Detroit: Visible Ink, 1998, pp.422-437
Adler, David A. A Picture Book of Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Scholastic, 1989
"The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University." Stanford University http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/ (July 2000)
"Time 100 The Most Important People of the 20th Century." Time.com http://www.time.com/time/time100/ (June 2000)
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