Innledning
Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 1929. His mother, Alberta Williams King was a school teacher. His roots were from the African American Baptist church.
His father, Martin Luther King Sr. was pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. So has also Kings Grandfather been.
King was a bright student. He began Morehouse College at age fifteen, graduating in 1948.
He entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, and was chosen valedictorian (the one who gives the goodbye speech last day before graduating at college) of his class in 1951.
He received his Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University in 1955. He accepted the pastorate at Dexter Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. Later he worked as a priest in his home town.
Utdrag
King led a successful campaign in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, where local white police officials were known for their violent opposition to integration.
There were a lot of clashes between unarmed black demonstrators and armed police officers with dogs. This led to newspaper headlines all over the world.
The brutalities suffered by the people were most severe. 1963 was also the year that witnessed the historic March on Washington, for jobs and freedom, on 28 August, with King as the principal speaker.
There was over 250 000 protesters gathered in Washington D. C. It was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
It is considered by many as the most eloquent speech in literary history. In 1963 King also became Time magazine’s man of the year.
“I have a dream today…
That one day… little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with the little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers
I have a dream today.”
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
The next year witnessed a great triumph when Martin Luther King became the recipient of the coveted Nobel Peace Prize.
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