Martin Luther King Jr.

January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968 at the age of 39
He was born in Atlanta Georgia and had a brother and a sister. He married Coretta Scott in 1953 and they had four children. He became pastor of a Baptist Church in Montgomery Alabama when he was 25 years old. In 1964 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent resistance to end racial prejudice in the United States.
King was a leader in the Montgomery Boycott which was in response to several black persons not giving up their seats to a white person on a public bus. This boycott lasted for one year. During this time King’s philosophy was to have non-violent protests against segregation. This was known as the Civil Rights movement in the United States. King and many others led non-violent protest throughout the south to insure the individual rights of all citizens of the United States, no matter their skin color.
In 1963 King and others led a Civil Rights march on Washington DC. The march was first conceived as a protest against the living conditions of Blacks in the south. President Kennedy expressed his feelings to King and the march took on a less strident tone. King is probably most famous for his “I Have A Dream Speech” which was given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for jobs and freedom. .
Martin Luther King Jr. was a member and primary leader of the Southern Christian Leadership conference. This group had sit-ins,and marches to pressure businesses to offer sales jobs and other jobs to people of all races. After protests and marches that turned violet in Birmingham, Alabama, tensions began to weaken and desegregation began when public places became more open to Blacks. . On April 4, 1964 Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while making a speech on a balcony in Menthis Tennessee. His assassin, James Earl Ray, was caught about two months later. In numerous cities around the United States violent riots broke out.
In 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation to name January 20 as Martin Luther King Day. Later George H. Bush named the third Monday in January as the celebrated day.

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