Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up with his mom ,dad ,brother ,and sister. At this time there was a Jim Crow law that separated black people from whites. As Martin grew older he began to read about black heroes. Many times when black people rode the bus , white drivers would not wait until blacks got to the back door of the bus.
Martin went to college at the age of fifteen. He had an A average and was at the top of his class. He graduated from Morehouse college in 1951, in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1952 Martin met the love of his life, Coretta Scott. They got married in June of 1953. Martin L. King asked black citizens to boycott the buses because of the incident with Rosa Parks. (The date was set at December 5th.) At this time, the Kings' first child was born. She was given the name Yolanda.
One Sunday, before the boycott, Coretta called, "Martin, come quickly!" As they looked through the window, they saw two buses pass by with no passengers. Throughout Montgomery, blacks refused to ride buses any more. Dr. King worked with Dr. Ralph Abernathy during the boycott. The committee was called The Montgomery Improvement Association. Dr. King was chosen as the president. They said the boycott would not end until black bus drivers were hired, too.
Dr. King and others who did not do anything wrong were arrested. One night, someone dropped a bomb into his home. Luckily, Coretta and their new baby were safe. As Martin came to their new home, he saw a big crowd of people with weapons. He told them, "If you have weapons, take them home... we must meet violence with non-violence... we must love our white brothers... we must meet hate with love."
Almost a year after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, the US Supreme Court ruled that Jim Crow laws forcing blacks to get on buses through the back door and to give up their seat was against United States law. The boycott would end soon.
At 6 AM, Dec. 21, 1956, Dr. King got on a Montgomery bus. The white driver smiled and said, "We are glad to have you this morning." Blacks riding buses no longer had to pay in the front and get in through the back. But there was still more to be done.
Dr. King wrote, Ride Toward Freedom, a book about the Montgomery bus boycott. He traveled all over the United States. A woman tried to kill him, but she was put in a mental hospital. He spoke all over the country. Black people were not allowed to use lunch counters in the South. Some students had a sit in at one and waited to be served. Dr. King joined them. Black people began to use properties that were said to be "Whites Only" allowed. They gathered in churches and sang, "We Shall Overcome One Day," led by Dr. King.
In 1963, Dr. King led a march for freedom in Birmingham, Alabama. Police often turned powerful hoses and police dogs onto the marchers, even little children. Many people were jailed, including Dr. King. But with luck and courage, there was no longer a Jim Crow law.
On August 28, 1963, there was the biggest march of all, the March on Washington. Two hundred thousand people, blacks and whites, joined the march. It was a happy crowd, and Dr. King spoke to them from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He said the great speech, "I Have a Dream.... that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.... I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.... I have a dream today."
In 1963, Dr. King was chosen Man of the Year by Time Magazine, and in 1964, he won the Nobel Peace Prize, a great honor. Dr. King was the youngest winner of the prize. Along with the prize he received a large amount of money.
Dr. King was not a greedy person, so he gave the money to charity and groups working to gain equal rights for black people in America. Later on , Dr. King led protests, and fifty mile marches for blacks to register to vote. Now, because of Dr. King, "White Only" signs were now against the law.
In 1966, Dr. King and his family moved to Chicago. There were no Jim Crow laws, but there was poverty. One day, in 1968, a few days before a march, Dr. King went to Memphis, Tennessee. He stood on the balcony of his motel on the evening of April 4th. He was going to lead a march the next day. But while he was on the balcony, a man named James Earl Ray was at the house next door, and shot Dr. King through his window.
Dr. King's grave now reads, "I'm free at last." He was only thirty-nine years old when he died.
Everyone now celebrates the bravery and courage of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the third Monday of January. We like to thank him for all he has done.
Thank you!