Encyclopedia Britannica

  • History & Society
  • Science & Tech
  • Biographies
  • Animals & Nature
  • Geography & Travel
  • Arts & Culture
  • Games & Quizzes
  • On This Day
  • One Good Fact
  • New Articles
  • Lifestyles & Social Issues
  • Philosophy & Religion
  • Politics, Law & Government
  • World History
  • Health & Medicine
  • Browse Biographies
  • Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
  • Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
  • Environment
  • Fossils & Geologic Time
  • Entertainment & Pop Culture
  • Sports & Recreation
  • Visual Arts
  • Demystified
  • Image Galleries
  • Infographics
  • Top Questions
  • Britannica Kids
  • Saving Earth
  • Space Next 50
  • Student Center
  • Introduction & Top Questions

Early years

  • The Montgomery bus boycott
  • The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
  • The letter from the Birmingham jail
  • Challenges of the final years
  • Historical significance and legacy

Martin Luther King, Jr.

What did Martin Luther King, Jr., do?

What is martin luther king, jr., known for, who did martin luther king, jr., influence and in what ways, what was martin luther king’s family life like, how did martin luther king, jr., die.

Participants, some carry American flags, march in the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. in 1965. The Selma-to-Montgomery, Alabama., civil rights march, 1965. Voter registration drive, Voting Rights Act

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

  • The Nobel Prize - Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Bill of Rights Institute - Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
  • Louisiana State University - Libraries - Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • Social Studies for Kids - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • The History Learning Site - Martin Luther King
  • BlackPast.org - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • Encyclopedia of Alabama - Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • Spartacus Educational - Biography of Martin Luther King
  • Temple University Sites - American Icons - Martin Luther King Jr. and the Myth of John Henry by Suet Yuk (Rainie) Au Yeung
  • National Archives - Findings on MLK Assassination
  • Stanford University - The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • United States History - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
  • Table Of Contents

Martin Luther King, Jr., was a Baptist minister and social rights activist in the United States in the 1950s and ’60s. He was a leader of the American civil rights movement . He organized a number of peaceful protests as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference , including the March on Washington in 1963. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, and, at the time, he was the youngest person to have done so. Learn more.

Martin Luther King, Jr., is known for his contributions to the American civil rights movement in the 1960s. His most famous work is his “ I Have a Dream ” speech, delivered in 1963, in which he spoke of his dream of a United States that is void of segregation and racism. King also advocated for nonviolent methods of protest, and he organized and staged countless marches and boycotts.

Martin Luther King, Jr., influenced people around the world. He advocated for peaceful approaches to some of society’s biggest problems. He organized a number of marches and protests and was a key figure in the American civil rights movement . He was instrumental in the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike , the Montgomery bus boycott , and the March on Washington . The holiday honoring King is often celebrated as the MLK Day of Service, a reflection of his legacy of addressing social problems through collective action.

Martin Luther King, Jr., grew up as the middle child of Michael (later Martin Luther) King, Sr., and Alberta Williams King. His father was the minister of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta—the same church where Martin Luther King, Jr., would eventually minister. In 1953 King married Coretta Scott , and the two had four children: Yolanda, Martin Luther III, Dexter Scott, and Bernice.

Martin Luther King, Jr., was standing on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, when he was shot by James Earl Ray . An hour later, King died at St. Joseph’s hospital. His death sparked riots across the country. In the United States he is memorialized on the third Monday of January every year— Martin Luther King, Jr., Day , which was first observed as a federal holiday in 1986.

Recent News

Martin Luther King, Jr. (born January 15, 1929, Atlanta, Georgia , U.S.—died April 4, 1968, Memphis , Tennessee) was a Baptist minister and social activist who led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. His leadership was fundamental to that movement’s success in ending the legal segregation of African Americans in the South and other parts of the United States. King rose to national prominence as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference , which promoted nonviolent tactics , such as the massive March on Washington (1963), to achieve civil rights . He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

King came from a comfortable middle-class family steeped in the tradition of the Southern Black ministry: both his father and maternal grandfather were Baptist preachers. His parents were college-educated, and King’s father had succeeded his father-in-law as pastor of the prestigious Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta . The family lived on Auburn Avenue, otherwise known as “Sweet Auburn,” the bustling “Black Wall Street,” home to some of the country’s largest and most prosperous Black businesses and Black churches in the years before the civil rights movement. Young Martin received a solid education and grew up in a loving extended family .

This secure upbringing, however, did not prevent King from experiencing the prejudices then common in the South . He never forgot the time when, at about age six, one of his white playmates announced that his parents would no longer allow him to play with King, because the children were now attending segregated schools. Dearest to King in these early years was his maternal grandmother, whose death in 1941 left him shaken and unstable. Upset because he had learned of her fatal heart attack while attending a parade without his parents’ permission, the 12-year-old King attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (center), with other civil rights supporters lock arms on as they lead the way along Constitution Avenue during the March on Washington, Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963.

In 1944, at age 15, King entered Morehouse College in Atlanta under a special wartime program intended to boost enrollment by admitting promising high-school students like King. Before beginning college, however, King spent the summer on a tobacco farm in Connecticut; it was his first extended stay away from home and his first substantial experience of race relations outside the segregated South. He was shocked by how peacefully the races mixed in the North. “Negroes and whites go [to] the same church,” he noted in a letter to his parents. “I never [thought] that a person of my race could eat anywhere.” This summer experience in the North only deepened King’s growing hatred of racial segregation .

The life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

At Morehouse, King favored studies in medicine and law, but these were eclipsed in his senior year by a decision to enter the ministry, as his father had urged. King’s mentor at Morehouse was the college president , Benjamin Mays , a social gospel activist whose rich oratory and progressive ideas had left an indelible imprint on King’s father. Committed to fighting racial inequality, Mays accused the African American community of complacency in the face of oppression, and he prodded the Black church into social action by criticizing its emphasis on the hereafter instead of the here and now; it was a call to service that was not lost on the teenage King. He graduated from Morehouse in 1948.

King spent the next three years at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester , Pennsylvania, where he became acquainted with Mohandas Gandhi ’s philosophy of nonviolence as well as with the thought of contemporary Protestant theologians. He earned a bachelor of divinity degree in 1951. Renowned for his oratorical skills, King was elected president of Crozer’s student body, which was composed almost exclusively of white students. As a professor at Crozer wrote in a letter of recommendation for King, “The fact that with our student body largely Southern in constitution a colored man should be elected to and be popular [in] such a position is in itself no mean recommendation.” From Crozer, King went to Boston University , where, in seeking a firm foundation for his own theological and ethical inclinations, he studied man’s relationship to God and received a doctorate (1955) for a dissertation titled “A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

  • Born: January 15, 1929
  • Place:  Atlanta
  • Parents: Alberta Williams King, Martin Luther King, Sr.
  • School:   Boston University

Young King Jr.

Martin and Coretta

  • Married: Martin and Coretta were married (by his father) on June 18, 1953.
  • Children: Yolanda Denise-King Children: Yolanda Denise-King, Martin Luther King III Children: Yolanda Denise-King,Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King Children: Yolanda Denise-King,Martin Luther King III,Dexter Scott King, Bernice Albertine King  

Martin and Rosa Parks

  • Rosa Parks:
  • Bus Boycotts: he On Dec 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, an African-American, refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger, as local law required. She was arrested. A few days later the black community in Montgomery began a bus boycott.
  • Martin in jail: participated in the Montgomery bus boycott, he spoke against the government, he disobeyed laws which he believed were unjust, Martin Luther King should not have been put in jail just for doing actions that is not against the law but at during that time i probably was a problem to the whites�

Famous Speech

  • “I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a  dream  today!”
  • Where was death:�April 4, 1968 �Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
  • Who killed Martin Luther king Jr.:

James Earl Ray

Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929, never backed down in his stand against racism. He dedicated his life to achieving equality and justice for all Americans of all colors. King believed that peaceful refusal to obey unjust law was the best way to bring about social change.

  • His message of nonviolence was heeded by many and scorned by others. His hope for an America without color lines is still an ongoing pursuit, according to many people. But his name lives on as a symbol of freedom and determination. Just about everywhere you go in the world, you’ll find someone who has heard his name. You can also find his name on street signs and schools around the United States. Right next door to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta is the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change. The Lorraine Hotel, where he was shot, is now the  National Civil Rights Museum . And his birthday, January 15, is recognized as a national holiday.

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience and security.

Enhanced Page Navigation

  • Martin Luther King Jr. - Biography

Martin Luther King Jr.

Biographical.

Martin Luther King

M artin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family’s long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, “l Have a Dream”, he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.

Selected bibliography

Adams, Russell, Great Negroes Past and Present , pp. 106-107. Chicago, Afro-Am Publishing Co., 1963.

Bennett, Lerone, Jr., What Manner of Man: A Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Chicago, Johnson, 1964.

I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King in Text and Pictures . New York, Time Life Books, 1968.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., The Measure of a Man . Philadelphia. The Christian Education Press, 1959. Two devotional addresses.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., Strength to Love . New York, Harper & Row, 1963. Sixteen sermons and one essay entitled “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence.”

King, Martin Luther, Jr., Stride toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story . New York, Harper, 1958.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., The Trumpet of Conscience . New York, Harper & Row, 1968.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? New York, Harper & Row, 1967.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., Why We Can’t Wait . New York, Harper & Row, 1963.

“Man of the Year”, Time , 83 (January 3, 1964) 13-16; 25-27.

“Martin Luther King, Jr.” , in Current Biography Yearbook 1965 , ed. by Charles Moritz, pp. 220-223. New York, H.W. Wilson.

Reddick, Lawrence D., Crusader without Violence: A Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr . New York, Harper, 1959.

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel . It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures . To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

* Note from Nobelprize.org: This biography uses the word “Negro”. Even though this word today is considered inappropriate, the biography is published in its original version in view of keeping it as a historical document.

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Nobel prizes 2023.

Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Introduction

Martin Luther King, Jr., made history, but he was also transformed by his deep family roots in the African-American Baptist church, his formative experiences in his hometown of Atlanta, his theological studies, his varied models of religious and political leadership, and his extensive network of contacts in the peace and social justice movements of his time. Although King was only 39 at the time of his death, his life was remarkable for the ways it reflected and inspired so many of the twentieth century’s major intellectual, cultural, and political developments.

The son, grandson, and great-grandson of Baptist ministers, Martin Luther King, Jr., named Michael King at birth, was born in Atlanta and spent his first 12 years in the Auburn Avenue home that his parents, the Reverend Michael King  and Alberta Williams King, shared with his maternal grandparents, the Reverend Adam Daniel (A. D.)  Williams  and Jeannie Celeste Williams. After Reverend Williams’ death in 1931, his son-in-law became  Ebenezer Baptist Church ’s new pastor and gradually established himself as a major figure in state and national Baptist groups. The elder King began referring to himself (and later to his son) as Martin Luther King.

King’s formative experiences not only immersed him in the affairs of Ebenezer but also introduced him to the African-American  social gospel  tradition exemplified by his father and grandfather, both of whom were leaders of the Atlanta branch of the  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People  (NAACP). Depression-era breadlines heightened King’s awareness of economic inequities, and his father’s leadership of campaigns against racial discrimination in voting and teachers’ salaries provided a model for the younger King’s own politically engaged ministry. He resisted religious emotionalism and as a teenager questioned some facets of Baptist doctrine, such as the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

During his undergraduate years at Atlanta’s  Morehouse College  from 1944 to 1948, King gradually overcame his initial reluctance to accept his inherited calling. Morehouse president Benjamin E.  Mays  influenced King’s spiritual development, encouraging him to view Christianity as a potential force for progressive social change. Religion professor George  Kelsey  exposed him to biblical criticism and, according to King’s autobiographical sketch, taught him “that behind the legends and myths of the Book were many profound truths which one could not escape” ( Papers  1:43 ). King admired both educators as deeply religious yet also learned men and, by the end of his junior year, such academic role models and the example of his father led King to enter the ministry. He described his decision as a response to an “inner urge” calling him to “serve humanity” ( Papers  1:363 ). He was ordained during his final semester at Morehouse, and by this time King had also taken his first steps toward political activism. He had responded to the postwar wave of anti-black violence by proclaiming in a letter to the editor of the  Atlanta Constitution  that African Americans were “entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens” ( Papers  1:121 ). During his senior year King joined the Intercollegiate Council, an interracial student discussion group that met monthly at Atlanta’s Emory University.

After leaving Morehouse, King increased his understanding of liberal Christian thought while attending  Crozer Theological Seminary  in Pennsylvania from 1948 to 1951. Initially uncritical of liberal theology, he gradually moved toward Reinhold  Niebuhr ’s neo-orthodoxy, which emphasized the intractability of social evil. Mentored by local minister and King family friend J. Pius  Barbour , he reacted skeptically to a presentation on pacifism by  Fellowship of Reconciliation  leader A. J.  Muste . Moreover, by the end of his seminary studies King had become increasingly dissatisfied with the abstract conceptions of God held by some modern theologians and identified himself instead with the theologians who affirmed  personalism , or a belief in the personality of God. Even as he continued to question and modify his own religious beliefs, he compiled an outstanding academic record and graduated at the top of his class.

In 1951, King began doctoral studies in systematic theology at  Boston University ’s School of Theology, which was dominated by personalist theologians such as Edgar  Brightman  and L. Harold  DeWolf . The papers (including his  dissertation ) that King wrote during his years at Boston University displayed little originality, and some contained extensive plagiarism; but his readings enabled him to formulate an eclectic yet coherent theological perspective. By the time he completed his doctoral studies in 1955, King had refined his exceptional ability to draw upon a wide range of theological and philosophical texts to express his views with force and precision. His capacity to infuse his oratory with borrowed theological insights became evident in his expanding preaching activities in Boston-area churches and at Ebenezer, where he assisted his father during school vacations.

During his stay in Boston, King also met and courted Coretta  Scott , an Alabama-born Antioch College graduate who was then a student at the New England Conservatory of Music. On 18 June 1953, the two students were married in Marion, Alabama, where Scott’s family lived.

Although he considered pursuing an academic career, King decided in 1954 to accept an offer to become the pastor of  Dexter Avenue Baptist Church  in Montgomery, Alabama. In December 1955, when Montgomery black leaders such as Jo Ann  Robinson , E. D.  Nixon , and Ralph  Abernathy  formed the  Montgomery Improvement Association  (MIA) to protest the arrest of NAACP official Rosa  Parks  for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, they selected King to head the new group. In his role as the primary spokesman of the year-long  Montgomery bus boycott , King utilized the leadership abilities he had gained from his religious background and academic training to forge a distinctive protest strategy that involved the mobilization of black churches and skillful appeals for white support. With the encouragement of Bayard  Rustin , Glenn  Smiley , William Stuart  Nelson , and other veteran pacifists, King also became a firm advocate of Mohandas  Gandhi ’s precepts of  nonviolence , which he combined with Christian social gospel ideas.

After the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed Alabama bus segregation laws in  Browder v. Gayle  in late 1956, King sought to expand the nonviolent civil rights movement throughout the South. In 1957, he joined with C. K.  Steele , Fred  Shuttlesworth , and T. J.  Jemison  in founding the  Southern Christian Leadership Conference  (SCLC) with King as president to coordinate civil rights activities throughout the region. Publication of King’s memoir of the boycott,  Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story  (1958), further contributed to his rapid emergence as a national civil rights leader. Even as he expanded his influence, however, King acted cautiously. Rather than immediately seeking to stimulate mass desegregation protests in the South, King stressed the goal of achieving black voting rights when he addressed an audience at the 1957  Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom .

King’s rise to fame was not without personal consequences. In 1958, King was the victim of his first assassination attempt. Although his house had been bombed several times during the Montgomery bus boycott, it was while signing copies of  Stride Toward Freedom  that Izola Ware  Curry  stabbed him with a letter opener. Surgery to remove it was successful, but King had to recuperate for several months, giving up all protest activity.

One of the key aspects of King’s leadership was his ability to establish support from many types of organizations, including labor unions, peace organizations, southern reform organizations, and religious groups. As early as 1956, labor unions, such as the  United Packinghouse Workers of America  and the United Auto Workers, contributed to MIA, and peace activists such as Homer  Jack  alerted their associates to MIA activities. Activists from southern organizations, such as Myles Horton’s  Highlander Folk School  and Anne  Braden ’s Southern Conference Educational Fund, were in frequent contact with King. In addition, his extensive ties to the  National Baptist Convention  provided support from churches all over the nation; and his advisor, Stanley  Levison , ensured broad support from Jewish groups.

King’s recognition of the link between segregation and colonialism resulted in alliances with groups fighting oppression outside the United States, especially in Africa. In March 1957, King traveled to  Ghana  at the invitation of Kwame  Nkrumah  to attend the nation’s independence ceremony. Shortly after returning from Ghana, King joined the  American Committee on Africa , agreeing to serve as vice chairman of an International Sponsoring Committee for a day of protest against South Africa’s  apartheid  government. Later, at an SCLC-sponsored event honoring Kenyan labor leader Tom  Mboya , King further articulated the connections between the African American freedom struggle and those abroad: “We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality” ( Papers  5:204 ).

During 1959, he increased his understanding of Gandhian ideas during a month-long visit to  India  sponsored by the  American Friends Service Committee . With Coretta and MIA historian Lawrence D.  Reddick  in tow, King met with many Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Jawaharlal  Nehru . Writing after his return, King stated: “I left India more convinced than ever before that non-violent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom” ( Papers  5:233 ).

Early the following year, he moved his family, which now included two children— Yolanda King  and Martin Luther King, III —to Atlanta in order to be nearer to SCLC headquarters in that city and to become co-pastor, with his father, of Ebenezer Baptist Church. (The Kings’ third child, Dexter King , was born in 1961; their fourth, Bernice King , was born in 1963.) Soon after King’s arrival in Atlanta, the southern civil rights movement gained new impetus from the student-led lunch counter  sit-in  movement that spread throughout the region during 1960. The sit-ins brought into existence a new protest group, the  Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee  (SNCC), which would often push King toward greater militancy. King came in contact with students, especially those from Nashville such as John  Lewis , James  Bevel , and Diane  Nash , who had been trained in nonviolent tactics by James  Lawson . In October 1960, King’s arrest during a student-initiated protest in Atlanta became an issue in the national presidential campaign when Democratic candidate John F.  Kennedy  called Coretta King to express his concern. The successful efforts of Kennedy supporters to secure King’s release contributed to the Democratic candidate’s narrow victory over Republican candidate Richard  Nixon .

King’s decision to move to Atlanta was partly caused by SCLC’s lack of success during the late 1950s. Associate director Ella  Baker  had complained that SCLC’s Crusade for Citizenship suffered from lack of attention from King. SCLC leaders hoped that with King now in Atlanta, strategy would be improved. The hiring of Wyatt Tee  Walker  as executive director in 1960 was also seen as a step toward bringing efficiency to the organization, while the addition of Dorothy  Cotton  and Andrew  Young  to the staff infused new leadership after SCLC took over the administration of the Citizenship Education Program pioneered by Septima  Clark . Attorney Clarence  Jones  also began to assist King and SCLC with legal matters and to act as King’s advisor.

As the southern protest movement expanded during the early 1960s, King was often torn between the increasingly militant student activists, such as those who participated in the  Freedom Rides , and more cautious national civil rights leaders. During 1961 and 1962, his tactical differences with SNCC activists surfaced during a sustained protest movement in Albany, Georgia. King was arrested twice during demonstrations organized by the  Albany Movement , but when he left jail and ultimately left Albany without achieving a victory, some movement activists began to question his militancy and his dominant role within the southern protest movement.

As King encountered increasingly fierce white opposition, he continued his movement away from theological abstractions toward more reassuring conceptions, rooted in African-American religious culture, of God as a constant source of support. He later wrote in his book of sermons,  Strength to Love  (1963), that the travails of movement leadership caused him to abandon the notion of God as “theologically and philosophically satisfying” and caused him to view God as “a living reality that has been validated in the experiences of everyday life” ( Papers  5:424 ). 

During 1963, however, King reasserted his preeminence within the African-American freedom struggle through his leadership of the  Birmingham Campaign . Initiated by SCLC and its affiliate, the  Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights , the Birmingham demonstrations were the most massive civil rights protests that had yet occurred. With the assistance of Fred Shuttlesworth and other local black leaders, and with little competition from SNCC and other civil rights groups, SCLC officials were able to orchestrate the Birmingham protests to achieve maximum national impact. King’s decision to intentionally allow himself to be arrested for leading a demonstration on 12 April prodded the Kennedy administration to intervene in the escalating protests. The widely quoted “ Letter from Birmingham Jail ” displayed his distinctive ability to influence public opinion by appropriating ideas from the Bible, the Constitution, and other canonical texts. During May, televised pictures of police using dogs and fire hoses against young demonstrators generated a national outcry against white segregationist officials in Birmingham. The brutality of Birmingham officials and the refusal of Alabama’s governor George C.  Wallace  to allow the admission of black students at the University of Alabama prompted President Kennedy to introduce major civil rights legislation.

King’s speech  at the 28 August 1963  March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , attended by more than 200,000 people, was the culmination of a wave of civil rights protest activity that extended even to northern cities. In his prepared remarks, King announced that African Americans wished to cash the “promissory note” signified in the egalitarian rhetoric of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Closing his address with extemporaneous remarks, he insisted that he had not lost hope: “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream ... that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” He appropriated the familiar words of “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” before concluding, “When we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’” (King, “I Have a Dream”).

Although there was much elation after the March on Washington, less than a month later, the movement was shocked by another act of senseless violence. On 15 September 1963, a dynamite blast at Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church killed four young school girls. King delivered the eulogy for three of the four girls, reflecting: “They say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers” (King,  Eulogy for the Martyred Children ).

St. Augustine, Florida  became the site of the next major confrontation of the civil rights movement. Beginning in 1963, Robert B.  Hayling , of the local NAACP, had led sit-ins against segregated businesses. SCLC was called in to help in May 1964, suffering the arrest of King and Abernathy. After a few court victories, SCLC left when a biracial committee was formed; however, local residents continued to suffer violence.

King’s ability to focus national attention on orchestrated confrontations with racist authorities, combined with his oration at the 1963 March on Washington, made him the most influential African-American spokesperson of the first half of the 1960s. He was named  Time  magazine’s “Man of the Year”  at the end of 1963, and was awarded the  Nobel Peace Prize  in December 1964. The acclaim King received strengthened his stature among civil rights leaders but also prompted  Federal Bureau of Investigation  (FBI) director J. Edgar Hoover to step up his effort to damage King’s reputation. Hoover, with the approval of President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert  Kennedy , established phone taps and bugs. Hoover and many other observers of the southern struggle saw King as controlling events, but he was actually a moderating force within an increasingly diverse black militancy of the mid-1960s. Although he was not personally involved in  Freedom Summer  (1964), he was called upon to attempt to persuade the  Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party  delegates to accept a compromise at the Democratic Party National Convention.

As the African-American struggle expanded from desegregation protests to mass movements seeking economic and political gains in the North as well as the South, King’s active involvement was limited to a few highly publicized civil rights campaigns, such as Birmingham and St. Augustine, which secured popular support for the passage of national civil rights legislation, particularly the  Civil Rights Act of 1964 .

The Alabama protests reached a turning point on 7 March 1965, when state police attacked a group of demonstrators at the start of a march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery. Carrying out Governor Wallace’s orders, the police used tear gas and clubs to turn back the marchers after they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the outskirts of Selma. Unprepared for the violent confrontation, King alienated some activists when he decided to postpone the continuation of the  Selma to Montgomery March  until he had received court approval, but the march, which finally secured federal court approval, attracted several thousand civil rights sympathizers, black and white, from all regions of the nation. On 25 March, King addressed the arriving marchers from the steps of the capitol in Montgomery. The march and the subsequent killing of a white participant, Viola Liuzzo, as well as the earlier murder of James  Reeb  dramatized the denial of black voting rights and spurred passage during the following summer of the  Voting Rights Act of 1965 .

After the march in Alabama, King was unable to garner similar support for his effort to confront the problems of northern urban blacks. Early in 1966 he, together with local activist Al  Raby , launched a major campaign against poverty and other urban problems, and King moved his family into an apartment in Chicago’s black ghetto. As King shifted the focus of his activities to the North, however, he discovered that the tactics used in the South were not as effective elsewhere. He encountered formidable opposition from Mayor Richard Daley and was unable to mobilize Chicago’s economically and ideologically diverse black community. King was stoned by angry whites in the Chicago suburb of Cicero when he led a march against racial discrimination in housing. Despite numerous mass protests, the  Chicago Campaign  resulted in no significant gains and undermined King’s reputation as an effective civil rights leader.

King’s influence was damaged further by the increasingly caustic tone of black militancy in the period after 1965. Black radicals increasingly turned away from the Gandhian precepts of King toward the  black nationalism  of  Malcolm X , whose posthumously published autobiography and speeches reached large audiences after his assassination in February 1965. Unable to influence the black insurgencies that occurred in many urban areas, King refused to abandon his firmly rooted beliefs about racial integration and nonviolence. He was nevertheless unpersuaded by black nationalist calls for racial uplift and institutional development in black communities. 

In June 1966, James  Meredith  was shot while attempting a “March against Fear” in Mississippi. King, Floyd  McKissick  of the  Congress of Racial Equality , and Stokely  Carmichael  of SNCC decided to continue his march. During the march, the activists from SNCC decided to test a new slogan that they had been using,  Black Power . King objected to the use of the term, but the media took the opportunity to expose the disagreements among protesters and publicized the term.

In his last book,  Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?  (1967), King dismissed the claim of Black Power advocates “to be the most revolutionary wing of the social revolution taking place in the United States,” but he acknowledged that they responded to a psychological need among African Americans he had not previously addressed (King,  Where Do We Go , 45–46). “Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery,” King wrote. “The Negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation” (King, “Where Do We Go From Here?”).

Indeed, even as his popularity declined, King spoke out strongly against American involvement in the  Vietnam War , making his position public in an address, “ Beyond Vietnam ,” on 4 April 1967, at New York’s Riverside Church. King’s involvement in the anti-war movement reduced his ability to influence national racial policies and made him a target of further FBI investigations. Nevertheless, he became ever more insistent that his version of Gandhian nonviolence and social gospel Christianity was the most appropriate response to the problems of black Americans.

In December 1967, King announced the formation of the  Poor People’s Campaign , designed to prod the federal government to strengthen its antipoverty efforts. King and other SCLC workers began to recruit poor people and antipoverty activists to come to Washington, D.C., to lobby on behalf of improved antipoverty programs. This effort was in its early stages when King became involved in the  Memphis sanitation workers’ strike  in Tennessee. On 28 March 1968, as King led thousands of sanitation workers and sympathizers on a march through downtown Memphis, black youngsters began throwing rocks and looting stores. This outbreak of violence led to extensive press criticisms of King’s entire antipoverty strategy. King returned to Memphis for the last time in early April.  Addressing  an audience at Bishop Charles J. Mason Temple on 3 April, King affirmed his optimism despite the “difficult days” that lay ahead. “But it really doesn’t matter with me now,” he declared, “because I’ve been to the mountaintop.... and I’ve seen the Promised Land.” He continued, “I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land,” (King, “ I’ve Been to the Mountaintop ”). The following evening, the  assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. , took place as he stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. A white segregationist, James Earl Ray, was later convicted of the crime. The Poor People’s Campaign continued for a few months after King’s death, under the direction of Ralph Abernathy, the new SCLC president, but it did not achieve its objectives.

Until his death, King remained steadfast in his commitment to the transformation of American society through nonviolent activism. In his posthumously published essay, “A Testament of Hope” (1969), he urged African Americans to refrain from violence but also warned: “White America must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society.” The “black revolution” was more than a civil rights movement, he insisted. “It is forcing America to face all its interrelated flaws—racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism” (King, “Testament,” 194).

After her husband’s death, Coretta Scott King established the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change (also known as the  King Center ) to promote Gandhian-Kingian concepts of nonviolent struggle. She also led the successful effort to honor her husband with a federally mandated  King national holiday , which was first celebrated in 1986. 

Introduction, in  Papers  1:1–57 .

King, “An Autobiography of Religious Development,” 12 September 1950–22 November 1950, in  Papers  1:359–363 .

King, Eulogy for the Martyred Children, 18 September 1963, in  A Call to Conscience , ed. Carson and Shepard, 2001.

King, “I Have a Dream,” Address Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 28 August 1963, in  A Call to Conscience , ed. Carson and Shepard, 2001.

King, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Address Delivered at Bishop Charles Mason Temple, 3 April 1968, in  A Call to Conscience , ed. Carson and Shepard, 2001.

King, “Kick Up Dust,” Letter to the Editor,  Atlanta Constitution , 6 August 1946, in  Papers  1:121 .

King, “My Trip to the Land of Gandhi,” July 1959, in  Papers  5:231–238 .

King, “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence,” 13 April 1960, in  Papers  5:419–425 .

King, Remarks Delivered at Africa Freedom Dinner at Atlanta University, 13 May 1959, in  Papers  5:203–204 .

King,  Strength to Love , 1963.

King, “A Testament of Hope,” in  Playboy  (16 January 1969): 193–194, 231–236.

King, “Where Do We Go From Here?,” Address Delivered at the Eleventh Annual SCLC Convention, 16 August 1967, in  A Call to Conscience , ed. Carson and Shepard, 2001.

King,  Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? , 1967.

Got any suggestions?

We want to hear from you! Send us a message and help improve Slidesgo

Top searches

Trending searches

a presentation on martin luther king

61 templates

a presentation on martin luther king

el salvador

34 templates

a presentation on martin luther king

17 templates

a presentation on martin luther king

16 templates

a presentation on martin luther king

49 templates

a presentation on martin luther king

american history

85 templates

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

It seems that you like this template, martin luther king jr. day presentation, free google slides theme, powerpoint template, and canva presentation template.

Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most important names in American history, advocated the use of non-violent actions to end racial segregation, and on the third monday of January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed. Customize our template and honor this person. Use its slides to talk about his life, the Civil Rights Movement and other relevant data. Thanks to the vintage design, you'll get a presentation that fits the topic.

Features of this template

  • 100% editable and easy to modify
  • 34 different slides to impress your audience
  • Contains easy-to-edit graphics such as graphs, maps, tables, timelines and mockups
  • Includes 500+ icons and Flaticon’s extension for customizing your slides
  • Designed to be used in Google Slides, Canva, and Microsoft PowerPoint
  • 16:9 widescreen format suitable for all types of screens
  • Includes information about fonts, colors, and credits of the free resources used

How can I use the template?

Am I free to use the templates?

How to attribute?

Attribution required If you are a free user, you must attribute Slidesgo by keeping the slide where the credits appear. How to attribute?

a presentation on martin luther king

Register for free and start downloading now

Related posts on our blog.

How to Add, Duplicate, Move, Delete or Hide Slides in Google Slides | Quick Tips & Tutorial for your presentations

How to Add, Duplicate, Move, Delete or Hide Slides in Google Slides

How to Change Layouts in PowerPoint | Quick Tips & Tutorial for your presentations

How to Change Layouts in PowerPoint

How to Change the Slide Size in Google Slides | Quick Tips & Tutorial for your presentations

How to Change the Slide Size in Google Slides

Related presentations.

Martin Luther King Lesson presentation template

Premium template

Unlock this template and gain unlimited access

Black History Month presentation template

Create your presentation Create personalized presentation content

Writing tone, number of slides.

Black History Month Template for Social Media presentation template

Register for free and start editing online

SlidePlayer

  • My presentations

Auth with social network:

Download presentation

We think you have liked this presentation. If you wish to download it, please recommend it to your friends in any social system. Share buttons are a little bit lower. Thank you!

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Published by Alexina Fleming Modified over 6 years ago

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day"— Presentation transcript:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Martin Luther King Grade 2 Social Studies Online.

a presentation on martin luther king

Lucie Syrová. * General facts * Martin Luther King, Jr. * Racial segregation * African – American Civil Rights Movement * Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

a presentation on martin luther king

MLK vs. Malcolm X  Words that remind you of the two.

a presentation on martin luther king

Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not A Day Off January 19, 2015.

a presentation on martin luther king

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality, and peace.

a presentation on martin luther king

January 16, 2012 will mark the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday. This milestone is a perfect opportunity for Americans to honor Dr. King’s.

a presentation on martin luther king

Patrick Frazier Elizabeth Kaiser Colleen Kelley Tyler Knight.

a presentation on martin luther king

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr : Began ministry career as the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

a presentation on martin luther king

Commemorating the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ( ) Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

a presentation on martin luther king

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin King Luther Jr. Day.

a presentation on martin luther king

National Holidays.

a presentation on martin luther king

Civil Right Movement Continued.... Malcolm X African American Activist Leader of the nation of Islam Believed that African Americans should not be afraid.

a presentation on martin luther king

The Civil Rights Movement Mr. Blais America in the World.

a presentation on martin luther king

National Holidays in America

a presentation on martin luther king

The Civil Rights Movement Unit 10 “The black revolution is much more than a struggle for the rights of Negroes. It is forcing America to face all its interrelated.

a presentation on martin luther king

Great American Speeches By Your Name Here. Personal Information Born Tuesday, January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, GA Married Coretta Scott on June 18, 1953 Four.

a presentation on martin luther king

Black History Month By:Deon & Isaiah. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther Kings speech I have a dream was in Washington dc in Martin Luther.

a presentation on martin luther king

Chapter 4 Civil rights. The Civil Rights Struggle: After the Civil War, African Americans routinely faced discrimination, or unfair treatment based on.

a presentation on martin luther king

Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday January 20, 2014 Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On…Not A Day Off.

a presentation on martin luther king

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not A Day Off! January 18, 2016.

About project

© 2024 SlidePlayer.com Inc. All rights reserved.

  • UPS Shipping
  • Packing & Shipping Boxes
  • Postal Services
  • International Shipping
  • Freight Shipping
  • Moving Boxes & Supplies
  • Estimate Shipping Cost
  • Pack & Ship Guarantee
  • Copies & Documents
  • Direct Mail
  • Business Cards
  • Blueprints & Architectural Printing
  • Stationery & Cards
  • Banner Printing
  • Poster Printing
  • Sign Printing
  • Mailbox Services
  • House Accounts
  • Faxing & Scanning
  • Time-Saving Kiosk
  • Estimate Shipping
  • Track Package
  • EN ES Toggle Language

Hours of Operation

  • Friday 6:30 PM
  • Saturday 1:00 PM
  • Sunday No Pickup
  • Monday 6:30 PM
  • Tuesday 6:30 PM
  • Wednesday 6:30 PM
  • Thursday 6:30 PM
  • Saturday No Pickup

The UPS Store South Lansing

Mlk North Of Holmes By McDonald's

Summer Shipalooza

Make this the summer of shipping and cross off items on your must-ship list. We’ll make the process a breeze!

Convenient Mailboxes

With our mailbox services at The UPS Store location at 3105 S Martin Luther King Blvd in Lansing, you get package acceptance from all carriers, a real street address and email or text notification. Plus, we'll keep your mail and packages secure until you're ready to pick them up.

Flexible to Fit Your Schedule

We’re open for your packing, shipping, mailboxes, shredding, copying, printing, and anything else you need every day.

Shipping Services

Pack & ship guarantee*.

We pack it. We ship it. We guarantee it.

Get the benefit of The UPS Store ® Pack & Ship Guarantee.* If a participating The UPS Store location packs your item using only new materials purchased at that location, you'll be reimbursed for the cost of packing and shipping plus the value of your items, if lost or damaged.*

The Pack & Ship Guarantee* offers peace of mind and is only available at participating The UPS Store locations.

* See Full Details

Certified Packing Experts

When it comes to cushioning and protecting your shipments, there's nothing The UPS Store Certified Packing Experts ® can't handle. We are trained in advanced packing techniques and specialize in properly packing fragile, high-value, large and odd-shaped items. If you're looking to ship electronics, artwork, antiques or luggage.

Stop by The UPS Store ® location at 3105 S Martin Luther King Blvd today.

UPS® shipping in Lansing

The UPS Store ® location at 3105 S Martin Luther King Blvd offers a full range of UPS ® shipping services for destinations within the United States.

  • UPS Next Day Air ®
  • UPS 2nd Day Air ®
  • UPS 3 Day Select ®
  • UPS ® Ground

Not sure how to pack your shipment? Don't worry, The UPS Store Certified Packing Experts ® can take care of that for you so you can stop in and ship out with confidence. Come visit us today!

Products and Services

Shipping & packing, additional services, notary services.

Looking for a notary public in 48910? The UPS Store at 3105 S Martin Luther King Blvd offers convenient notary services near you. Stop by today to get your documents notarized and check another item off your to-do list.

Shredding Services

The UPS Store offers convenient and affordable document shredding services in Lansing, MI, provided by Iron Mountain ® . Shred your items to help protect yourself and your business from identity theft.

Get easier checkout and flexible billing for your small business. Learn about opening a house account at The UPS Store on 3105 S Martin Luther King Blvd.

Need to fax or scan important documents? We make the process easy and convenient at The UPS Store South Lansing.

Save time with our self-service solution for a quick and easy way to process your returns and UPS ® drop-offs! Scan your QR code or label, follow the prompts, drop off your items and we’ll handle the rest. Try the Time-Saving Kiosk today!

About The UPS Store South Lansing

The UPS Store in Lansing, MI is here to help individuals and small businesses by offering a wide range of products and services. We are locally owned and operated and conveniently located at 3105 S Martin Luther King Blvd. While we're your local packing and shipping experts, we do much more. The UPS Store is your local print shop in 48910, providing professional printing services to market your small business or to help you complete your personal project or presentation. We offer secure mailbox and package acceptance services, document shredding, office and mailing supplies, faxing, scanning and more. Everything for your small business, even shipping.

Areas Served

Accepted payments.

  • • American Express
  • • Google Pay TM
  • • Apple Pay ®
  • • MasterCard
  • • Samsung Pay ®

Store Services

We've got you covered. The UPS Store South Lansing in Lansing, MI offers the following products and services.

Printing Products

  • • Brochures
  • • Presentations and Manuals
  • • Newsletters
  • • Business Cards
  • • Letterhead
  • • Postcards
  • • Invitations
  • • Calendars

Printing Services

  • • Online Printing
  • • Mobile Printing
  • • Full Service Digital Printing
  • • Laminating
  • • Wide Format Printing
  • • Collating
  • • 24-Hour Access
  • • Color and Black & White Printing and Copying
  • • Package Acceptance
  • • Package Receipt Notification
  • • Mail Forwarding
  • • Call-in MailCheck

Small Business Services

  • • Fax Services, Send and Receive
  • • Printed Marketing & Business Materials
  • • Graphic Design
  • • Direct Mail Solutions
  • • House Account Program
  • • Computer Rental
  • • Internet Access

Mailing Services

  • • Stamps & Metered Mail
  • • Priority Mail®
  • • Express Mail®
  • • Parcel Post®
  • • First Class Mail®
  • • Global Express Guaranteed®
  • • Delivery Confirmation™
  • • Signature Confirmation®
  • • Certified Mail™ with Return Receipt
  • • Every Door Direct Mail Retail™
  • • UPS Next Day Air® Early
  • • UPS Next Day Air®
  • • UPS Next Day Air Saver®
  • • UPS 2nd Day Air A.M.®
  • • UPS 2nd Day Air®
  • • UPS 3 Day Select®
  • • UPS Ground
  • • UPS International
  • • UPS My Choice(SM)

Packing Services

  • • Custom Packaging
  • • Packaging Boxes & Supplies
  • • Electronics Packaging
  • • Pack & Ship Guarantee
  • • Ground Freight
  • • Custom Crating

Additional Products and Services

  • • Office Products and Supplies
  • • Notary Services
  • • Rubber Stamps
  • • Shredding
  • • Live Scan/Digital Fingerprinting/Fingerprinting
  • • Time-Saving Kiosk

Join Our Mailing List

  • Start Online Print Order Opens in New Tab
  • All Printing Services
  • All Shipping & Packing Services

The King Center

Let’s Celebrate

The annual King Holiday Observance is a time that we celebrate, commemorate and honor the life, legacy and impact of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The King Center leads the charge to provide education and training in Nonviolence365; while serving as the vital living memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Global citizens will have unique opportunities to learn and unite in celebration of Dr. King’s groundbreaking work and Mrs. Coretta Scott King’s powerful continuation and formal institutionalization of that work through a variety of engaging events hosted by The King Center leading up to The King Holiday on January 20th, 2025.

Our strategic theme for 2025 is ‘Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice, and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence365′. This theme defines the 2025 King Holiday Observance events and programming while serving as a compass for all the work we will do this upcoming calendar year and beyond. The pioneering work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. demonstrated that Kingian Nonviolence (Nonviolence365™) is the sustainable solution to injustice and violence in our world, ultimately leading to the creation of the Beloved Community, where injustice ceases, and love prevails.

The King Center welcomes and invites you to join this movement for a new future as we strive to cultivate a Beloved Community Mindset, and ultimately transform unjust systems.

Save the Date

Save the Date

2025 King Holiday Observance

Our mission.

Our mission is to empower people to create a just, humane, equitable and peaceful world by applying Dr. King’s nonviolent philosophy and methodology (Nonviolence365).

Contact Info

449 Auburn Avenue, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30312

[email protected]

404.526.8900

Quick Links

  • History Timeline
  • King Holiday
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Latest News

  • Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Coretta Scott King’s 100th Birthdays
  • Spotlight on Women’s History Month with The King Center

Stay Connected

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (MLK) is observed in the United States on the third Month of January each year. The first celebration was held in 1986, after the law establishing the federal holiday was signed in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan.

The MLK holiday honors the life of legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968). Dr. King fought tirelessly for civil rights for all Americans. In many communities, MLK Day consists of community service and other educational opportunities.

To learn more about Dr. King and what is taking place in the greater Bay Area, the following resource has been created to learn more.

Additional MLK Information:

The King Center

2024 Calendar of Events

Current calendar of events as of january 14, 2024. please check back for additional events and updates..

DATE EVENT INFORMATION TIME & LOCATION

by Sat., January 13th

 

8:30am at Kelley Park in San Jose

Parking: 748 Story Road

) SCU has been a long time supporter of this annual event and is sponsoring two tables for SCU faculty/staff and students

by Igwebuike and SCAAP

6pm at the Shapell Lounge (film screening and discussion)
- Presentation and Discussion 12:00pm -1:00pm in Charney Hall 101 (Lawyers Lab)

by Fri., January 19th

9:30am - 2:30pm

Grace Baptist Church, 484 E San Fernando St, San Jose, CA

Planning Committee

A special thank you to all those involved in helping to expand the opportunities to honor the legacy of Dr. King within the SCU community. We are excited about expanding these opportunities in the future.

  • Ignatian Center - Community Engaged Student Learning (CESL): Darcy Phillips and Maria Autrey
  • Campus Ministry: Elizabeth Rand
  • Center for Student Involvement (CSI): Chloe Wong
  • Igwebuike: Denel McMahan, Josh Goodloe, and Hydeia Wysinger
  • Santa Clara Community Action Program (SCCAP) : Bella Burleigh, Karina Tsou, Chisomaga Nlemigbo, and Grace Davis
  • Inclusive Excellence: Ray Plaza
  • Office for Multicultural Learning (OML): Chris Harris and Bernell Nevil
  • Law School: Evangeline Abriel

dr martin luther king

Dr. Martin Luther King

Mar 21, 2019

130 likes | 257 Views

Dr. Martin Luther King. 1929 - 1968. 1958: Arrested for "loitering" in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. King was manhandled by police. 1960: In Atlanta, at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference convention.

Share Presentation

  • king attended
  • civil rights rally
  • martin luther king jr

clint

Presentation Transcript

Dr. Martin Luther King 1929 - 1968

1958: Arrested for "loitering" in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. King was manhandled by police.

1960: In Atlanta, at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference convention.

1960: Leading a Demonstration Demanding a Strong Civil Rights Plank in the GOP Campaign Platform, in Chicago

1960: King at a civil rights rally on the steps of the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.

1963: Addressing the huge gathering at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

1965: The watershed march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

1965: In early March, shortly before leading civil rights demonstrators from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., King attended a memorial service for Reverend James Reeb, a white clergyman from Boston who was killed by white thugs in Selma.

1966: King was a student of Mahatma Gandhi's extraordinarily successful non-violent methods of civil protest, and adopted them as a staunch theme of the American civil rights movement.

1968: Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr. and children, disembarking plane bringing the body of Martin Luther King, Jr. home for burial in Atlanta.

“Free at Last, Free at Last, Thank God Almighty I’m Free at Last”

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.... Returning violence for violence multiples violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. --Martin Luther King Jr.

Go to the History website and read the Martin Luther King Jr. monograph.located athttp://www.belmont.k12.ca.us/ralston/programs/itech/mlk.html

  • More by User

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tara GeeganED 417-01Winter 2008Dr. Helms. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. First Grade Lesson. OBJECTIVES. Students will gain an understanding of the chronological order of Dr. King's life.. OBJECTIVES. Students will gain an understanding of the way Dr. King protested, why he proteste

317 views • 15 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King J.R

Dr. Martin Luther King J.R

Dr. Martin Luther King J.R. A great man. BIRTH. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. SCHOOL. King attended Booker T. Washington High School, where he was said to be a precocious student. . BECOMING A FATHER.

378 views • 13 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King

Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. Martin Luther Jr. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Martin was born on the 15th of January 1929

141 views • 5 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. History. 1944 Leaves booker T. Washington High School after completing eleventh grade and is admitted to Morehouse College in Atlanta at the age of 15.

362 views • 9 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr .

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr .

製作:賴亦歆老師. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr . Jan 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968. Timeline. Opposition to the Vietnam war . Montgomery Bus Boycott. MLK Jr. Day. Segregation. 1861~1865 1929 1954 1955 1963 1967 1968 1986.

580 views • 29 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a young minister. Segregation was wrong. “Down with segregation”. Colored Admission: 10 cents. “He believed in fighting peacefully”. These people are protesting peacefully by marching and singing.

240 views • 9 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Follow the Dream: Celebrating Diversity. Description of Lesson:. This lesson is designed to increase the tolerance of all people. Dr. King’s message was very powerful. Diversity will be the theme of this lesson. You will become aware of Dr. King’s teachings.

264 views • 14 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. By: Sophia #4. Early Years. On January 15, 1929 Michael Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His mom was Alberta King. His dad was Michael Luther King Sr. Michael was the second oldest child. Michael ’ s dad was a pastor.

224 views • 6 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. By Mrs. Stewart’s class. Before and After Dr. King. Before. Busses for one color Schools for one color Water fountains for one color. After. Busses for everyone Schools for everyone Water fountains for everyone. Conclusion.

128 views • 5 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 16, 2006. In celebration of. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 1929. Martin Luther King, Jr. (originally named Michael King) is born in Atlanta, GA. February 25, 1948. King is ordained and appointed associate pastor to his father, the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

323 views • 20 slides

Dr Martin Luther King

Dr Martin Luther King

The future of race relations in the United States of America (with particular reference to the South). Dr Martin Luther King. Washington DC August 28 1963. Status Summary. 1863 Emancipation proclamation signed This gave hope to millions 1963 African Americans still not free. Progress.

160 views • 9 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr ., ( January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin.

2.17k views • 152 slides

DR. Martin Luther King Jr.

DR. Martin Luther King Jr.

DR. Martin Luther King Jr. Early Years. Martin was born in 1929 January 15 in Atlanta. His dads name is Martin Luther King Sr. His mothers name is Alberta King. When Martin was born the doctor said he was perfect.

273 views • 7 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. By : Group C. Facts:. Born in 1929 Died in 1968 Won Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 Wrote “I have a dream” speech in 1963 He was a Civil Rights leader. http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086#synopsis

218 views • 4 slides

Dr Martin Luther King Jr

Dr Martin Luther King Jr

Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Man Of Many Dreams Hero to some Satan To Others. Rise Of The King. Hello and welcome to ITV NEWS live. The time is 10 o’clock and the headlines are, The Turkish Prime Minister visited Basra today and was greeted hostilely.

182 views • 5 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Images. The March of Washington (1963). One of the first nonviolent demonstrations (1956). Meets with President Johnson (1965). 1968- Thousands of people march next to MLK’s coffin.

243 views • 16 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister. He believed the words in the Declaration of Independence that said, “all men are created equal.”. But in 1950 all men were not equal. People of color were discriminated against.

314 views • 19 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. Was liked by everyone Wanted everyone to get along Liked to fight. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a. Teacher Dentist Minister. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave. Speeches Candles Candy. When is Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday?. June 15

495 views • 14 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Can anybody guess why I would be teaching you about Dr. King today?. That’s right! Because last Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day which is a federal holiday celebrating his birthday. Who was Dr. King?.

200 views • 10 slides

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin joins the bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955. Visited India to study Mohandas Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence. Martin arrested in Birmingham, Alabama on April 12, 1963. He wrote his Letters from Birmingham Jail at this time.

130 views • 1 slides

IMAGES

  1. PPT

    a presentation on martin luther king

  2. PPT

    a presentation on martin luther king

  3. PPT

    a presentation on martin luther king

  4. PPT

    a presentation on martin luther king

  5. PPT

    a presentation on martin luther king

  6. PPT

    a presentation on martin luther king

COMMENTS

  1. Martin Luther King.pptx

    1 Martin Luther King 2 Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968) was an American pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. 3 4 He was born ...

  2. PDF Slideshow

    Reaching the mountaintop. In May 1968, a month after the assassination of King, a participant in the Poor People's Campaign demonstration in Washington, D.C. held up a placard with the text: "Dr. King died for the poor people". The struggle to bring economic justice to poor people turned out to be King's last battle.

  3. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    July 25, 2024, 8:16 PM ET (AP) Kamala Harris: A Baptist with a Jewish husband and a faith that traces back to MLK and Gandhi. Martin Luther King, Jr. (born January 15, 1929, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.—died April 4, 1968, Memphis, Tennessee) was a Baptist minister and social activist who led the civil rights movement in the United States from the ...

  4. Martin Luther King Jr

    April 4, 1968. At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement. On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his ...

  5. Martin Luther King Jr

    conclusion. Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929, never backed down in his stand against racism. He dedicated his life to achieving equality and justice for all Americans of all colors. King believed that peaceful refusal to obey unjust law was the best way to bring about social change.

  6. Martin Luther King Jr.

    M artin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor.

  7. Introduction

    Introduction. Martin Luther King, Jr., made history, but he was also transformed by his deep family roots in the African-American Baptist church, his formative experiences in his hometown of Atlanta, his theological studies, his varied models of religious and political leadership, and his extensive network of contacts in the peace and social ...

  8. Martin Luther King Jr. English Presentation

    Rosa Parks, 1st of December 1955. Montgomery, bus boycot 385 days. Martin Luther King, helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Busboycot 1955. King approved violence and guns. Gandhi: nonviolence activism. "I have a dream" speech. 250.000 people. Among them 60.000 white people.

  9. PDF A Special Presentation

    The following document is an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. On this day over 250,000 people had ...

  10. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Presentation

    Free Google Slides theme, PowerPoint template, and Canva presentation template. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most important names in American history, advocated the use of non-violent actions to end racial segregation, and on the third monday of January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed. Customize our template and honor this person.

  11. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

    Presentation on theme: "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr"— Presentation transcript: 1 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks to marchers at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Aug. 28, 1963 In the Spirit. 2 On January 18, the nation will pause to remember one of its most important civil rights leaders with a national ...

  12. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

    January 18, 2016. 2 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a vital figure of the modern era and a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement. In sermons and speeches, Dr. King's voice rang out with a call for us to work toward a better tomorrow. His actions inspired men and women, young and old, in this nation and ...

  13. Martin Luther King Präsentation by Mema Steme on Prezi

    Martin Luther King Aktionen: Bus-Boykott: 1955 Bus-Boykott 1963 Aktionen für Registrierung Schwarzer in die Wählerlisten Aktionen gegen Rassentrennung, für bessere Schulbildung und bessere Wohnungen für Farbige 1963 Marsch auf Washington er protestierte immer friedlich 1995: 381 ... Sales pitch presentation: creating impact with Prezi; July ...

  14. Martin Luther King Prezi Presentation

    Was spoken in 1963. Lasted 17 minutes. As a result of the speech, Dr King was named Man of the Year by Time Magazine. Won the Nobel Peace Prize the next year because of speech. Offspring: Yolanda King (deceased), Martin Luther King III (present), Bernice King (present),Dexter Scott King. Died April 4, 1968. Shot by James Earl Ray.

  15. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968

    Presentation Transcript. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968. Atlanta 1929 Michael Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15th to schoolteacher, Alberta King and Baptist minister, Michael Luther King residing at 501 Auburn Avenue. His father later changed both their names to Martin Luther King. King entered Morehouse College at the age of 15 ...

  16. PPT

    Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. By Imer Nunez 3 rd Grade Havard Elementary Social Studies. Martin Luther King as a Boy. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. When Martin Luther King Jr. was a little boy, he asked his mom why some people said mean things. 777 views • 9 slides

  17. PPT

    Presentation Transcript. Birth • Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. King, both a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist, had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s. School • King attended Booker T. Washington High School, where he was said to be a ...

  18. CUNY Honors Dr. King's Great Legacy Through Dialogue and Action

    Annual Martin Luther King Day Celebration: This year's free, virtual presentation, "The Time is Now: Forward!" will celebrate Dr. King's legacy and connection to today's student activism and engagement. It will evoke his 1965 appearance at the college, where he emphasized the power of peaceful resistance in his address to students as ...

  19. March on Washington 60th anniversary: An oral history of 1963 event

    Martin Luther King III Then: 5, son of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Now: 65, chairman of the Drum Major Institute and former president of the Southern Christian Leadership ...

  20. 3105 S Martin Luther King Blvd

    The UPS Store ® location at 3105 S Martin Luther King Blvd offers a full range of UPS ... providing professional printing services to market your small business or to help you complete your personal project or presentation. We offer secure mailbox and package acceptance services, document shredding, office and mailing supplies, faxing ...

  21. Omaha museum welcomes Martin Luther King III at upcoming civil rights

    Martin Luther King III will stop in Omaha to celebrate the 61st anniversary of his father's historic "I Have a Dream" speech during the civil rights movement in Washington, D.C.Martin Luther King III will stop in Omaha to celebrate the 61st anniversary of his father's historic "I Have a Dream" speech during the civil rights movement ...

  22. PPT

    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On January 15,1929, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born to Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. On his birth certificate, his name was mistakenly recorded as "Michael King", but was not discovered until 1934. Dr. King is most famous. 381 views • 10 slides

  23. King Holiday 2025

    The King Center leads the charge to provide education and training in Nonviolence365; while serving as the vital living memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Global citizens will have unique opportunities to learn and unite in celebration of Dr. King's groundbreaking work and Mrs. Coretta Scott King's powerful continuation and formal ...

  24. KCPD find dead body at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and the Paseo

    Kansas City, Missouri police officers were called to report of a dead body at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and the Paseo. Police say the deceased was in a state of decomposition.It is being ...

  25. Omaha hosts Martin Luther King III

    Martin Luther King III continued his visit to Omaha on Saturday.He was at the Great Plains Black History Museum.This came after he was the guest of honor at a luncheon hosted by local ...

  26. PPT

    Mar 21, 2019. 210 likes | 321 Views. January 16, 2006. In celebration of. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 1929. Martin Luther King, Jr. (originally named Michael King) is born in Atlanta, GA. February 25, 1948. King is ordained and appointed associate pastor to his father, the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Download Presentation.

  27. MLK Day 2024

    The MLK holiday honors the life of legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968). Dr. King fought tirelessly for civil rights for all Americans. ... MLK Law School Event - Presentation and Discussion: 12:00pm -1:00pm in Charney Hall 101 (Lawyers Lab) January 20, 2024: MLK Day of Service: Feed the Block. Register ...

  28. PPT

    Dr. Martin Luther King. 1929 - 1968. 1958: Arrested for "loitering" in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. King was manhandled by police. 1960: In Atlanta, at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference convention. ... During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher. E N D . Presentation Transcript. Dr. Martin ...

  29. Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park Upper Plaza Improvements

    The City of Berkeley is soliciting invitations for bid (IFB) for the MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CIVIC CENTER PARK-UPPER PLAZA IMPROVEMENTS Project. Scope includes the demolition and replacement of existing pathways and flagstone paving, ADA access improvements, grading and drainage improvements, fencing, furnishings, landscaping and irrigation, utilities, protection of existing trees and artwork ...