Black
History
Month tribute
Martin Luther King, Jr.
M
artin Luther King, Jr., has been hai-
led as a prophet, a modern Moses,
and the conscience of a nation. The
son of a southern middle-class African
American minister and his wife, King be-
came an internationally known leader of
the Civil Rights movement. King gained
worldwide recognition for his philosophy
of nonviolent social change. In 1964 he
became the youngest person to have recei-
ved the Nobel Peace Prize.
King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and
was raised in a middle-class family. Fol-
lowing the lead of his father and grand-
fathers, he pursued a theological edu-
cation. He studied the works of Walter
Rauschenbusch, who contended that the
church must work to undo social injusti-
ces, and those of Mohandas K. Gandhi,
who espoused a philosophy of nonviolen-
ce. In the fall of 1951 he began his doctoral
studies at Boston University and received
his Ph. D. in systematic theology in 1955.
That same year he rose to prominence in
the civil rights movement by organizing a
protest in support of Rosa Parks, a black
woman who was arrested in Alabama for
sitting in a “whites only” section of a pu-
blic bus. Near the end of 1962 he began
working to desegregate Birmingham,
“Our lives begin to end the day
Alabama. His leadership produced an
we become silent about things that matter.”
agreement with the Justice Department
- Martin Luther King Jr.
that led to the desegregation of lunch co-
unters, restrooms, fitting rooms, and drin-
king fountains. In 1963 King helped plan
“Segregation now!
a massive march on Washington, D.C.,
Segregation tomorrow!
where an estimated 250,000 people were
on hand to hear him present his famous Segregation forever!”
“I Have a Dream” speech. In 1964 King - George C. Wallace who was a governor of Alabama four times
received the Nobel Peace Prize. His cam-
paign for voting rights, concentrated in
Selma, Alabama, was met with violence
“Mom, we are going to do something tomorrow that
from both police and civilians and resul-
may change history that might change the world.”
ted in President Lyndon Johnson signing
- Ezell Blair Jr. on a sit-in he was going to participate in Stores in the South
the 1965 Voting Rights Act into law. King
continued his social campaigns until April
4, 1968, when he was assassinated by Ja-
“don’t separate your money in this cash register, but,
mes Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee.
no, please don’t step down to the hot dog stand.”
-Franklin McCain
74
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