Martin Luther King, Jr. - Minister & Civil Rights Activist | Biography

[Music] Martin Luther King Jr was born in Atlanta Georgia in 1929 Faith was always an important part of daily life as both his father and grandfather were baptist ministers he thrived at a segregated High School graduating at 15 before heading off to Morehouse College he then dedicated 3 years to theological study at kroer Seminary in Pennsylvania while earning his graduate degree at Boston University he met ketta Scott who he would marry and have for children with King and his family settled in Montgomery Alabama when he became the 20th pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to relinquish her seat to a white man on a Montgomery city bus in 1955 the incident lit a fire under the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement his boycott um of the bus system in Montgomery Alabama was tremendously tremendously successful because he was incredibly strategic and he worked with other people to get the individuals in Montgomery Alabama to understand that they weren't going to take it anymore King's experience passion for the cause and position in the community gave him the credentials to become a leader in the 381 day boycott of

the city buses on December 20th 1956 the Supreme Court ruled segregated buses to be unconstitutional this was a major victory for the Civil Rights cause and proved King's nonviolent methods of protest could yield results King was now the national face of the Civil Rights cause he was jailed over 20 times was once stabbed in the chest his house was bombed and he suffered Relentless personal attacks on himself and his family for a man of peaceful intentions he unfortunately spent much of his life the target of violent intent yet the threats never stopped him Dr King

inspired thousands of people through his eloquence and through his fearlessness especially after his home was firebombed with his wife and his children they showed through their courage that they were prepared to give their lives to the cause of Freedom King worked tirelessly to promote the cause he so strongly believed in and from 1957 through 1968 he traveled over 6 million miles delivered 2500 speeches wrote five books and dozens of Articles his hard work and ability to communicate earned him such respect that he earned the ear of President John F Kennedy who personally met with [Music]

king of all the speeches King delivered none has stood the test of time like his famous I Have a Dream speech symbolically delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 in front of 250,000 people both black and white king had become such a force in America that he was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1963 a nice achievement in indeed but it paled in comparison when in 1964 he became the youngest man ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize Martin Luther King Jr was an American he was deeply American and what's

striking to me is that he had more confidence and Faith in American democracy in the Constitution and in the principles of fairness and opportunity then nearly all of his critics while in Memphis to lead a protest March defending the rights of striking garbage workers in April of 1968 King delivered a rousing speech titled I've been to the Mountaintop it would be his last standing on the balcony of his second floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis King was shot and killed in 1983 Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation declaring the third Monday of every January

Martin Luther King Jr Day a public holiday to celebrate the man and what he stood [Music] for