Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. : A Guide : Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an African American Baptist minister and leader in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. He was a prominent figure from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Dr. King led marches to end Jim Crow segregation, secure voting rights, and address other civil rights issues, including labor rights and, toward the end of his life, economic justice. Dr. King believed that the only way to advance civil rights was through nonviolent protest and civil disobedience. He was inspired by the teachings of Jesus and modeled the nonviolent activism of India's Mahatma Gandhi, who fought against British colonial rule. Dr. King was also deeply influenced by Dr. Benjamin Mays, the president of Morehouse College, where King enrolled at the age of 15 after graduating from the historic Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Additionally, theologian Howard Thurman introduced King to the spiritual and strategic value of nonviolent protest.

In 1953, Dr. King married Coretta Scott, a gifted musician and activist. The couple had four children: Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice. Coretta Scott King was an active partner in the movement, supporting her husband's work while also championing women's rights, economic justice, and world peace.

Dr. King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). In 1963, he helped organize nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama and delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington. The following year, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his commitment to nonviolent resistance against racial oppression and inequality. In 1965, Dr. King led the historic Selma to Montgomery marches, advocating for voting rights. Toward the end of his life, he focused on ending poverty and strongly opposed the Vietnam War. In 1968, he was organizing the Poor People’s Campaign, a march and occupation of Washington, D.C., to demand economic justice.

Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. After his death, Coretta Scott King carried forward his legacy, founding the King Center in Atlanta, advocating for human rights, and playing a crucial role in the establishment of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a national holiday.

Dr. King’s legacy endures in the ongoing fight for equality, justice, and nonviolent change.

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