Dona Barbara

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement He is best known for being an iconicfigure in the advancement of civil rightsin the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King is often presented as a heroic leader inthe history of modern American liberalism.]
A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern ChristianLeadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream speech. There, he expanded American values toinclude the vision of a color blind society, and established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.
In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel PeacePrize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on endingpoverty and stopping the Vietnam War.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.


Martin Luther King, Jr., was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the middle child of the ReverendMartin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King King's father was born "Michael King", and Martin Luther King, Jr., was originally named "Michael King, Jr.," until the family traveled to Europe in1934 and visited Germany. His father soon changed both of their names to Martin Luther in honor of the German Protestant leader Martin Luther. King, Jr. had an older sister, Willie Christine King,...