Martin Luther King Jr.

On June 18, 1953, King married Coretta Scott, an accomplished singer, author and a civil rights activist. The couple had four children: Yolanda King (b. 1955), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (b. 1961), and Bernice King (b. 1963).

Although Coretta Scott King mostly confined herself to her duties of a homemaker during King’s life time but after his assassination, she took up the leadership of the movement. Later she also became active in the Women's Movement and the LGBT rights movement.

On March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee to address rallies. On April 3, he addressed his last rally and on April 4, while standing in the motel's second-floor balcony, he was shot by a white fanatic at 6:01 pm.The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashed his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord and finally lodged in his shoulder. He was immediately taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he underwent an emergency surgery; but died 7:05 pm. He was only 39 years old then.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Martin Luther King Senior, also born Michael, was the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church and a civil rights leader in the early stage of the movement.

In 1934, his father attended Fifth Baptist World Alliance Congress at Berlin and came to know about German reformer Martin Luther. Thereafter, he changed both their names from Michael to Martin Luther.

His mother, Alberta Williams King, was an accomplished organist and choir leader. Michael, who was born second of his parents’ three children, had an elder sister called Willie Christine King and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King.

Martin had his schooling at Booker T. Washington High School, a segregated institution meant for African-American students. Here he not only excelled in studies, but also made a name for himself in public speaking and took part in school debates. He was also a good singer and participated in various choirs.

Yong Martin was much affected by the racial segregation and the accompanying humiliation. He found the law that required blacks to give up their seats in favor of white passengers while travelling in public transport system very humiliating and respected his father for his proud and fearless protest against segregation.

Meanwhile in 1954, Martin Luther King Junior joined the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama as pastor. Subsequently, he became a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and began to work for their rights.

His first major campaign, Montgomery Bus Boycott, was staged in 1955-56. It involved a total boycott of the public buses by the black community and resulted in desegregation of the town’s public transport system.

Next in 1957, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was established and King was elected its President, a position he held until his death. Their aim was to consolidate the black churches and create a platform for conducting nonviolent protests and bring about civil rights reform.

On May 17, 1957, SCLC organized a large nonviolent demonstration, which they called ‘Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom’. The meeting was held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In his first national speech titled ‘Give Us the Ballot’, King called for voting rights for blacks.

Later, the SCLC held more than twenty mass meetings in different cities of the south with the aim of registering black voters of the region. Apart from that, King also undertook lecture tours on race-related issues and met with different religious as well as civil rights leaders.

In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent campaign against racism.

He also received Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977) and Congressional Gold Medal (2004) posthumously.