Nanci hellmich biography of martin luther king

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Michael Sr. eventually adopted the name Martin Luther King Sr. in honor of the German Protestant religious leader Martin Luther. Although his family was deeply involved in the church and worship, King questioned religion in general and felt uncomfortable with overly emotional displays of religious worship. 1st ed. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1988.

Frady, Marshall.

Mays was an outspoken advocate for racial equality and encouraged King to view Christianity as a potential force for social change.

Martin Luther King Jr., seen here in the mid-1950s, served as a pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, then Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

After being accepted at several colleges for his doctoral study, King enrolled at Boston University.

His philosophy of nonviolence has inspired movements for freedom and equality worldwide, from South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle to contemporary human rights campaigns.

References: 

Branch, Taylor, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63. The Montgomery Bus Boycott began December 5, 1955, and for more than a year, the local Black community walked to work, coordinated ride sharing, and faced harassment, violence, and intimidation.

“I could envision myself playing a part in breaking down the legal barriers to Negro rights.”

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

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At the time, King felt that the best way to serve that purpose was as a lawyer or a doctor. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

His next activist campaign was the student-led Greensboro Sit-In movement.

In February 1960, a group of Black students in Greensboro, North Carolina, began sitting at racially segregated lunch counters in the city’s stores. At the same time, his mother, Alberta, was a schoolteacher who valued education and encouraged young Martin to dream big.

King’s first personal experience with racism came at just six years old when a white friend’s parents told them they couldn’t play together anymore.

The culmination of their efforts was the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. He was a popular student, especially with his female classmates, but largely unmotivated, floating through his first two years.

Influenced by his experiences with racism, King began planting the seeds for a future as a social activist early in his time at Morehouse.

It was in this Gandhian emphasis on love and nonviolence that I discovered the method for social reform that I had been seeking.”

It led to the formation of King’s six principles of nonviolence:

  1. Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.
  2. Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.
  3. Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people.
  4. Nonviolence holds that suffering for a just cause can educate and transform.
  5. Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.

    Each has worked to promote his values of justice, nonviolence, and equality, using their voices to remind the world of his dream.

    Outside of the King family, the civil rights movement didn’t stop. His death shocked the nation, sparking grief and anger.

    How King’s Family and Allies Continued His Dream

    Martin Luther King Jr.’s death shattered his family, but they responded with remarkable strength and determination.

    On January 20, 1986, the nation celebrated the first Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Martin Luther King Jr.

1929-1968

In Focus: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

In the nearly 40 years that the United States has celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.

Day, the national holiday has never coincided with the inauguration of a non-incumbent president.

nanci hellmich biography of martin luther king

Martin Sr. was more the disciplinarian, while Alberta’s gentleness easily balanced out their father’s strict hand. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.

  • A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.
  • At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
  • Right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
  • In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
  • Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
  • Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
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    Through his nonviolent activism and inspirational speeches, he played a pivotal role in ending legal segregation of Black Americans as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

    A decade later, King was again targeted, and this time he didn’t survive.

    While standing on a balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, Martin Luther King Jr.

    was killed by a sniper’s bullet on April 4, 1968.