January 15, 2020
Image by WikiImages from Pixabay
Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.! Today we celebrate the birth of an amazing man who worked so hard for our civil rights from 1955 to 1968.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born Michael Luther King Jr. on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, GA. He had first-hand experience of attending segregated schools in the south, but continued on to graduate high school at the age of fifteen, then receiving his B.A. from Morehouse College, studied at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and finally received his doctorate at Boston University.
He was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), whose mission “is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.” Dr. King worked tirelessly, giving speeches, leading boycotts and traveling from city to city to protest and fight for the rights of African-American citizens around the country.
His work led to his arrests, abuse and even his home being bombed, but it also led to the ending of segregation of African Americans and the start of their civil rights. His work helped steer the president to passing important legislation such as the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act in 1964 and 1965.
Dr. King wrote five books, several articles, and orated many speeches. The most famous of all of his speeches was “I Have a Dream” which occurred during one of his marches, the March on Washington, to protest racial discrimination and support civil rights. More than 200,000 people assembled at the Lincoln Memorial to peaceably work towards equal justice.
I have a dream that my four little 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.
King Jr., Martin Luther. “I Have a Dream.”
Martin Luther King Jr. also had many revered writings, including the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, which was an explanation of the non-violent intentions he had while in Birmingham, Alabama.
You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are quite right in calling for negotiation.
King Jr., Martin Luther. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” The Africa Center. Web. https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html.
Dr. King won the Nobel Peace prize in 1964, being at the time the youngest to have received the honor.
In 1968, on the 4th of April, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel room.
While we wish that companies and store merchants wouldn’t use this holiday to impose sales and other shopping opportunities upon us, we’re grateful that his birthday is one of the few that is widely celebrated throughout the U.S.A. Did you know that Martin Luther King Jr. is the only non-president to have a national holiday dedicated in his honor?
