Martin Luther King Jr biography -
Civil Rights Activist and Peace Campaigner

Martin Luther King Jr biography. Martin Luther King Jr was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, as Michael Luther King Jr though his father changed their names to Martin after a visit to Germany. His father was a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church and his mother a school teacher.

He attended segregated schools for his education, Booker T Washington High School, and went on to Morehouse College where he earned his BA degree in 1948. For his theological studies, he attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, and then went to Boston University for his Graduate studies. He got his doctorate of philosophy from Boston University in 1955.

It was in Boston that he met Coretta Scott whom he married on June 18, 1953 in Heiberger, Alabama. They had 2 sons, Martin Luther III and Dexter Scott, as well as 2 daughters, Yolande Denise and Bernice Albertine.

In 1954 he was appointed as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery Alabama. His background as a Christian pastor, together with influences from Mahatma Ghandi, would inspire his philosophy of non-violent civil rights protests in years to come.

When Rosa Parks was arrested for violating segregated seating laws on public buses in December of 1955, King used his leadership position in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, to organize a bus boycott. The boycott lasted for 382 days and by the end of it, the bus company had changed their practices and the Supreme Court had ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. This was a great moral victory and Martin Luther King Jr became a respected leader of the civil rights movement.

In 1957 he was elected leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a civil rights organization with ideals from Christianity and the operating style of Ghandi. They organized non-violent (though it didn't always turn out that way) protests against segregation, marches and 'civil disobedience' (deliberately flouting unjust segregation laws to get arrested and raise awareness of the injustice).

He was one of the organizers of the march in Washington DC, of 250,000 people from all walks of life (the largest gathering up to that point in Washington), protesting for Jobs and Freedom. He also delivered his famous 'I have a dream!' speech here on August 28, 1963. And in 1964 he became the youngest winner of a Nobel peace prize when he won it at the age of just 35 years.

He continued campaigning for civil rights and it led to new laws being introduced. In 1964 the Civil Rights Bill was signed into law by Lyndon Johnson which made it illegal to discriminate based on race. And in 1965 the Voting Rights Act was passed which made it illegal for Southern Stated to prevent colored people from voting or registering to vote.

As his campaigning went on, it broadened to include more issues of social injustice and not just race. He even campaigned against the Vietnam war where he argued why sent our young black and young white boys to defend their country's ideals, when we can't even get them to be seated at the same table here at home.

On the fateful day of April 4, 1968, the Martin Luther King Jr biography comes to a close as he was assassinated on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee. He was there to join protesting city workers who was striking because of unfair work conditions. At the young age of 39, this inspiring man who promoted non-violence and equality, lost his life violently. But his legacy lives on.

Martin Luther King Jr biography links

• Martin Luther King Jr biography from the Nobel organization.