Martin Luther King the Man who Inspired the Day

The United States celebrates today as Martin Luther King. King was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1954 til he was assassinated in 1968. But who was this young man that led such a big movement at a relatively young age.

Martin Luther King was born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta Georgia.

His father was a reverend named Martin Luther King Sr. and his mama was Alberta WIlliams King. The original name of neight father nor son was not Martin but Michael. The father changed both names in 1934 after a trip to Germany where the Baptist World Alliance was hosted. During the trip and a formal introduction to Nazism the group condemned anti Semitism This would also later inspire the Senior King to influence his son. 

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of three children that his parents would have. With an older sister Christine King Farris and a younger brother A.D. king. His activity with the church began early and singing in the choir was one of them. In 1939 Martin Luther King Jr. sang with the church choir at the Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind. Alberta King was an accomplished organist and choir leader who would help her son gan attention in his singing. While his life was good and fair Martin Luther King Jr. does recall his parents were very disciplined with him as well. 

Martin Luther King Sr. believed in punishing his children when they did wrong. He was also proud and fearless when he would protest against segregation from police officers who would discriminate or stores that made "blacks" shop in a different area of the store, normally the back. 

Martin Luther King Jr. learned discrimination early on. At the age of six not being able to attend school with his friend because of skin color because schools were segregated by state law. Because of the segregation in so many areas that directly were related to his life King would suffer from depression. Going as far as jumping out of a two story window because he struggled dealing with both the loss of his grand-mother and the "racial issues" he had to deal with as a teen. 

It was in Highschool at the Booker T. Washington High School that Martin Luther King Jr. became a known public speaker. At the age of 13 he became the youngest assistant manager of the Atlanta Journal delivery station. With all that he continued to do and do well he also was dealing with built up anger that he had back.

Anger may have been the reason for Martin Luther King Jr. in the beginning that started the fire that inspired his part in the movement towards civil rights. Through non-violence measures and civil disobedience King's Christian beliefs King would lead nonviolent activism events. Events such as the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott. Furthermore, King would become the first black president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. 

Martin Luther King Jr. would be involved in many civil right events. Protests in Birmingham Alabama in 1963 and the March in Washington where he gave the "I Have A Dream" speech.

The following years would see Martin Luther King  win the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting back against racial inequality The battle would spread to other areas as well. Opposition would be put up against poverty and the Vietnam war. President of J. Edgar Hoover considered him a radical and placed him on the FBI's list. However, this did not deter King as he went on to battle against more wrongs that he witnessed.

The year Martin Luther King Jr. died (1968) a national occupation of Washington D.C. was planned. It would be called the Poor People's Campaign King was assassinated on April 4th, 1968 in Memphis Tennessee. Following his deaths many riots took place. James Earl Ray the man who was convicted whether guilty or not was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Allegations of whether the government took part or framed Ray have persisted for years



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