Martin Luther King Jr.'s Biography

Everyone knows of Martin Luther King Jr because of his famous speech, but that is only part of his success. Michael Luther King was born on January 15, 1929 and passed away April 4, 1968. He later changed his name to Martin Luther King. King grew up in Alabama, Georgia because both his parents, Michael King Sr. and Alberta Williams King, families had come from Georgia.

He was sandwiched between two siblings his older sister, Willie Christine, and younger brother Alfred Daniel Williams King. The King children were brought up to be compassionate and respectful because their mother was kind and gentle while their father was strict. Martin’s father was a minister and believed in his equality, so Martin was exposed to the real world and this had a huge impact on him.

When Mr. King started school he was a brilliant, popular, and all around good student. He was such a hard working student that he skipped both grades nine and eleven and ended up going to college when he was fifteen year old! In his college year at Morehouse Georgia he started to doubt his faith, but later renewed it so strongly he decided to become a minister.

His adult life is the more commonly known part of Martin’s life because it was when he started his stand for equality. He applied for a graduate program at Boston College where he met the love of his life, Coretta Scott, a singer from Alabama. Their wedding was in 1953. They later settled in Montgomery, Alabama where King became a pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

Then, to there great joy the Kings family grew and kept growing until the Kings had four beautiful children named Yolanda Denise, Martin Luther III, Dexter Scott, and Bernice Albertine. At the time everything was normal, but on December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks made a stand for her rights and got arrested for it, so the local civil rights leaders decided to start a city boycott and they voted King to be their leader. The boycott was successful, but it came at a price.

King’s home was attacked and all who were part of the boycott had to walk to and from work each day, but, in the end the county of Montgomery stopped the law of segregated buses being legal. This was a huge accomplishment, but what he left Martin Luther King’s famous speeches are known worldwide for their truth. It took so much courage to stand up for his equality and he did what others couldn’t do. This noble man ended up dying for his beliefs because someone disagreed with him. James Earl Ray was the man who murdered.