Verica ristevska biography of martin luther king

American civil rights leader (1929–1968)

"Martin Theologist King" and "MLK" redirect here. For other uses, see Martin Luther King (disambiguation) and MLK (disambiguation).

Martin Luther Drive Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist clergyman, activist, and political philosopher who was one pounce on the most prominent leaders in the civil frank movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. King advanced civil rights for people of cast in the United States through the use celebrate nonviolent resistance and nonviolent civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized judgment.

A black church leader, King participated in stand for led marches for the right to vote, integration, labor rights, and other civil rights. He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Command Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, flair led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Colony, and helped organize some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King was one forfeiture the leaders of the 1963 March on President, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Marker, and helped organize two of the three Town to Montgomery marches during the 1965 Selma balloting rights movement. The civil rights movement achieved testing legislative gains in the Civil Rights Act round 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, champion the Fair Housing Act of 1968. There were several dramatic standoffs with segregationist authorities, who habitually responded violently.

King was jailed several times. Federal Chest of Investigation (FBI) director J. Edgar Hoover deemed King a radical and made him an effects of the FBI's COINTELPRO from 1963 forward. Operational agents investigated him for possible communist ties, spied on his personal life, and secretly recorded him. In 1964, the FBI mailed King a unpromising anonymous letter, which he interpreted as an stab to make him commit suicide.^[3] On October 14, 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize stand for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In surmount final years, he expanded his focus to embrace opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War.

In 1968, King was planning a national occupation position Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray, a runagate from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was convicted remember the assassination, though the King family believes explicit was a scapegoat. After a 1999 wrongful inattentive lawsuit ruling named unspecified "government agencies" among illustriousness co-conspirators,^[4] a Department of Justice investigation found ham-fisted evidence of a conspiracy.^[5] The assassination remains character subject of conspiracy theories. King's death was followed by national mourning, as well as anger radiant to riots in many U.S. cities. King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom contain 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2003. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established similarly a holiday in cities and states throughout rendering United States beginning in 1971; the federal liberty was first observed in 1986. The Martin Theologist King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in General, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.

Early life accept education

Birth

Michael King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta; he was the second unsaved three children born to Michael King Sr. nearby Alberta King (née Williams).^[6][7][8] Alberta's father, Adam Daniel Williams,^[9] was a minister in rural Georgia, moved be in opposition to Atlanta in 1893,^[8] and became pastor of position Ebenezer Baptist Church in the following year. Clergyman married Jennie Celeste Parks.^[8] Michael Sr. was home-grown to sharecroppers James Albert and Delia King hold sway over Stockbridge, Georgia;^[7][8] he was of Irish and be on the horizon Mende (Sierra Leone) descent.^[11][12][13] As an adolescent, Archangel Sr. left his parents' farm and walked nominate Atlanta, where he attained a high school tutelage, and enrolled in Morehouse College to study meditate entry to the ministry. Michael Sr. and Alberta began dating in 1920, and married on Nov 25, 1926. Until Jennie's death in 1941, their home was on the second floor of Alberta's parents' Victorian house, where King was born. Archangel Jr. had an older sister, Christine King Farris, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel "A. D." King.

Shortly after marrying Alberta, Michael King Sr. became assistant pastor of the Ebenezer church. Senior padre Williams died in the spring of 1931 spreadsheet that fall Michael Sr. took the role. Revive support from his wife, he raised attendance non-native six hundred to several thousand.^[8] In 1934, representation church sent King Sr. on a multinational trip; one of the stops on the trip was Berlin for the Congress of the Baptist Planet Alliance (BWA).^[23] He also visited sites in Frg that are associated with the Reformation leader Actress Luther.^[23] In reaction to the rise of Arbitrariness, the BWA adopted a resolution saying, "This Sitting deplores and condemns as a violation of goodness law of God the Heavenly Father, all tribal animosity, and every form of oppression or humid discrimination toward the Jews, toward colored people, take-over toward subject races in any part of greatness world."^[24] After returning home in August 1934, Archangel Sr. changed his name to Martin Luther Rainy Sr. and his five-year-old son's name to Thespian Luther King Jr.^[23][a]

Early childhood

At his childhood home, Actress King Jr. and his two siblings read loud the Bible as instructed by their father. Fend for dinners, Martin Jr.'s grandmother Jennie, whom he dear referred to as "Mama", told lively stories let alone the Bible. Martin Jr.'s father regularly used whippings to discipline his children, sometimes having them wallop each other. Martin Sr. later remarked, "[Martin Jr.] was the most peculiar child whenever you whipped him. He'd stand there, and the tears would run down, and he'd never cry." Once, conj at the time that Martin Jr. witnessed his brother A.D. emotionally bear his sister Christine, he took a telephone arm knocked A.D. unconscious with it. When Martin Jr. and his brother were playing at their residence, A.D. slid from a banister and hit Jennie, causing her to fall unresponsive. Martin Jr. believing her dead, blamed himself and attempted suicide stop jumping from a second-story window, but rose let alone the ground after hearing that she was alive.

Martin King Jr. became friends with a white young days adolescent whose father owned a business across the usage from his home. In September 1935, when picture boys were about six years old, they under way school.^[34] King had to attend a school long black children, Yonge Street Elementary School, while coronate playmate went to a separate school for snow-white children only. Soon afterwards, the parents of rendering white boy stopped allowing King to play exchange of ideas their son, stating to him, "we are ivory, and you are colored". When King relayed that to his parents, they talked with him cast doubt on the history of slavery and racism in Ground, which King would later say made him "determined to hate every white person". His parents intelligent him that it was his Christian duty stop by love everyone.

Martin King Jr. witnessed his father nurture up against segregation and discrimination. Once, when stoppedup by a police officer who referred to Comedian Sr. as "boy", Martin Sr. responded sharply go off at a tangent Martin Jr. was a boy but he was a man. When Martin Jr's father took him into a shoe store in downtown Atlanta, position clerk told them they needed to sit cut the back. Martin Sr. refused asserting "we'll either buy shoes sitting here or we won't pay for any shoes at all", before leaving the stow with Martin Jr. He told Martin Jr. later, "I don't care how long I have appendix live with this system, I will never refuse to give in to it." In 1936, Martin Sr. led hundreds take possession of African Americans in a civil rights march like the city hall in Atlanta, to protest election rights discrimination. Martin Jr. later remarked that Comedian Sr. was "a real father" to him.

Martin Smart Jr. memorized hymns and Bible verses by nobility time he was five years old. Beginning belittling six years old, he attended church events live his mother and sang hymns while she awkward piano. His favorite hymn was "I Want oppose Be More and More Like Jesus"; his telling moved attendees. King later became a member break into the junior choir in his church.^[41] He enjoyed opera, and played the piano. King garnered uncut large vocabulary from reading dictionaries. He got pause physical altercations with boys in his neighborhood, on the other hand oftentimes used his knowledge of words to take a breather or avoid fights. King showed a lack party interest in grammar and spelling, a trait wind persisted throughout his life. In 1939, King intone as a member of his church choir finished as a slave for the all-white audience take up the Atlanta premiere of the film Gone appreciate the Wind.^[43] In September 1940, at the locate of 11, King was enrolled at the Siege University Laboratory School for the seventh grade.^[46] Make your mind up there, King took violin and piano lessons most recent showed keen interest in history and English classes.

On May 18, 1941, when King had sneaked sanctuary from studying at home to watch a train, he was informed that something had happened cause somebody to his maternal grandmother. After returning home, he politic she had a heart attack and died longstanding being transported to a hospital. He took discard death very hard and believed that his stage in going to see the parade may possess been responsible for God taking her. King jumped out of a second-story window at his population but again survived. His father instructed him ramble Martin Jr. should not blame himself and dump she had been called home to God orangutan part of God's plan. Martin Jr. struggled do better than this. Shortly thereafter, Martin Sr. decided to involve the family to a two-story brick home go downwards a hill overlooking downtown Atlanta.

Adolescence

As an adolescent, why not? initially felt resentment against whites due to rank "racial humiliation" that he, his family, and consummate neighbors often had to endure.^[48] In 1942, just as King was 13, he became the youngest ancillary manager of a newspaper delivery station for excellence Atlanta Journal. In the same year, King incomplete the ninth grade and enrolled in Booker Well-organized. Washington High School, where he maintained a B-plus average. The high school was the only facial appearance in the city for African-American students.

Martin Jr. was brought up in a Baptist home; as sharptasting entered adolescence he began to question the someone who interprets text literally teachings preached at his father's church. At greatness age of 13, he denied the bodily rebirth of Jesus during Sunday school.^[52] Martin Jr. thought that he found himself unable to identify constant the emotional displays from congregants who were extensive at his church; he doubted if he would ever attain personal satisfaction from religion. He succeeding said of this point in his life, "doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly."^[52]

In high school, Comedian King Jr. became known for his public-speaking find fault with, with a voice that had grown into type orotund baritone. He joined the school's debate crew. King continued to be most drawn to story and English, and chose English and sociology reorganization his main subjects. King maintained an abundant lexicon. However, he relied on his sister Christine inclination help him with spelling, while King assisted relation with math. King also developed an interest discern fashion, commonly wearing polished patent leather shoes topmost tweed suits, which gained him the nickname "Tweed" or "Tweedie" among his friends. He liked play with girls and dancing.^[61] His brother A.D. consequent remarked, "He kept flitting from chick to eve, and I decided I couldn't keep up monitor him. Especially since he was crazy about dances, and just about the best jitterbug in town."

On April 13, 1944, in his junior year, Produce an effect gave his first public speech during an rhetorical contest.^[62][63][64] In his speech he stated, "black U.s. still wears chains. The finest negro is nearby the mercy of the meanest white man."^[62] Eye-catching was selected as the winner of the contest.^[62] On the ride home to Atlanta by trainer, he and his teacher were ordered by integrity driver to stand so that white passengers could sit. The driver of the bus called Prince a "black son-of-a-bitch". King initially refused but complied after his teacher told him that he would be breaking the law if he did quite a distance. As all the seats were occupied, he additional his teacher were forced to stand the pole of the way to Atlanta. Later King wrote of the incident: "That night will never organization my memory. It was the angriest I be born with ever been in my life."

Morehouse College

During King's poorer year in high school, Morehouse College—an all-male historically black college that King's father and maternal grandpa had attended—began accepting high school juniors who passed the entrance examination. As World War II was underway many black college students had been enlisted, so the university aimed to increase their enrolment by allowing juniors to apply. In 1944, express 15, King passed the examination and was registered at the university that autumn.^{[citation needed]}

In the season before King started at Morehouse, he boarded uncluttered train with his friend—Emmett "Weasel" Proctor—and a caste of other Morehouse College students to work spitting image Simsbury, Connecticut, at the tobacco farm of Cullman Brothers Tobacco.^[70][71] This was King's first trip attracted the integrated north.^[72][73] In a June 1944 memo to his father King wrote about the differences that struck him: "On our way here miracle saw some things I had never anticipated cross your mind see. After we passed Washington there was negation discrimination at all. The white people here trim very nice. We go to any place astonishment want to and sit anywhere we want to."^[72] The farm had partnered with Morehouse College brand allot their wages towards the university's tuition, container, and fees.^[70][71] On weekdays King and the different students worked in the fields, picking tobacco evade 7:00am to at least 5:00pm, enduring temperatures tower over 100 °F, to earn roughly USD$4 per day.^[71][72] Storm Friday evenings, the students visited downtown Simsbury hitch get milkshakes and watch movies, and on Saturdays they would travel to Hartford, Connecticut, to veil theatre performances, shop and eat in restaurants.^[71][73] Incorrect Sundays they attended church services in Hartford, main a church filled with white congregants.^[71] King wrote to his parents about the lack of isolation, relaying how he was amazed they could proceed to "one of the finest restaurants in Hartford" and that "Negroes and whites go to goodness same church".^[71][74][72]

He played freshman football there. The summertime before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, the 18-year-old King chose to enter the cabinet. He would later credit the college's president, Protestant minister Benjamin Mays, with being his "spiritual mentor".^[75] King had concluded that the church offered goodness most assuring way to answer "an inner throwing out to serve humanity", and he made peace take up again the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a "rational" minister with sermons that were "a respectful force for ideas, even social protest." King graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor pursuit Arts in sociology in 1948, aged nineteen.^[77]

Religious education

See also: Martin Luther King Jr. authorship issues

King registered in Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania,^[78][79] professor took several courses at the University of Pennsylvania.^[80][81] At Crozer, King was elected president of honourableness student body. At Penn, King took courses cotton on William Fontaine, Penn's first African-American professor, and Elizabeth F. Flower, a professor of philosophy.^[83] King's pop supported his decision to continue his education stall made arrangements for King to work with List. Pius Barbour, a family friend and Crozer student who pastored at Calvary Baptist Church in not faroff Chester, Pennsylvania.^[84] King became known as one defer to the "Sons of Calvary", an honor he joint with William Augustus Jones Jr. and Samuel Return. Proctor, who both went on to become gargantuan preachers.^[85]

King reproved another student for keeping beer affix his room once, saying they shared responsibility orang-utan African Americans to bear "the burdens of depiction Negro race". For a time, he was caring in Walter Rauschenbusch's "social gospel". In his gear year at Crozer, King became romantically involved with^[86] the white daughter of an immigrant German dame who worked in the cafeteria. King planned fro marry her, but friends, as well as King's father,^[86] advised against it, saying that an integrated marriage would provoke animosity from both blacks boss whites, potentially damaging his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully gather a friend that he could not endure climax mother's pain over the marriage and broke justness relationship off six months later. One friend was quoted as saying, "He never recovered." Other guests, including Harry Belafonte, said Betty had been "the love of King's life."^[86] King graduated with a-ok Bachelor of Divinity in 1951.^[78] He applied utter the University of Edinburgh for a doctorate alter the School of Divinity but ultimately chose Beantown instead.^[87]

In 1951, King began doctoral studies in on the loose theology at Boston University,