Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Martin Luther King Jr.

 

 

 

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledges the crowd

at the Lincoln Memorial for his "I Have a Dream" speech

during a march on Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963.

About 250,000 people attended the march

to urge support for impending civil-rights legislation.

 

 

 

Encouragement:

I Have a Dream
The famous speech delivered in 1963 to more than 200,000 civil-rights marchers at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. [PDF from Stanford's Papers Project]
"I still have a dream" MP3 | Real (1:03)
"Let freedom ring" MP3 | Real (1:20)

 

 

 

An aerial view shows the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial for the march on Washington. In addition to King, Rosa Parks spoke at the event.

 

 

 

I've Been to the Mountaintop
After narrowly surviving a stabbing, King gave this speech, saying "I may not get there with you." It was the day before he was assassinated. [PDF from Stanford's Papers Project]
"We will get to the promised land" MP3 | Real (:56)

On nonviolence:

Letter From a Birmingham Jail
King felt compelled to respond to those who would advise African Americans to wait patiently for justice. He outlines the reasons for his peaceful approach in this 1963 letter. [PDF from Stanford's Papers Project]

 

 

Nobel Prize acceptance speech
King used his 1964 speech, given in Oslo, Norway, as a reminder of the ongoing struggle. [PDF from Stanford's Papers Project]

For students:

What Is Your Life's Blueprint?
In 1967, a group of students in Philadelphia listened to King talk about his hopes for them.

 

 

The Purpose of Education
King's article in the Morehouse student paper, the Maroon Tiger, in 1947, argues that the critical intellect requires moral development.

Example of a sermon:

The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life
King preaches to congregants in 1967 about a life of length, breadth and depth.

 

 

On poverty:

Where We Are Going
In this chapter of his last book, King wrote about the need to address poverty as an issue of class, not race.

 

 

 

1929?8, American clergyman and civil-rights leader, b. Atlanta, Ga., grad. Morehouse College (B.A., 1948), Crozer Theological Seminary (B.D., 1951), Boston Univ. (Ph.D., 1955). The son of the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, King became (1954) minister of the Dexter Ave. Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. He led the black boycott (1955?6) of segregated city bus lines and in 1956 gained a major victory and prestige as a civil-rights leader when Montgomery buses began to operate on a desegregated basis.

 

 

Police use dogs to quell civil unrest in Birmingham, Ala., in May 1963. Birmingham's police commissioner "Bull" Connor also allowed fire hoses to be turned on young civil rights demonstrators. These measures set off a backlash of sentiment that rejuvenated the flagging civil rights movement.

 

 

King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which gave him a base to pursue further civil-rights activities, first in the South and later nationwide. His philosophy of nonviolent resistance led to his arrest on numerous occasions in the 1950s and 60s. His campaigns had mixed success, but the protest he led in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963 brought him worldwide attention. He spearheaded the Aug., 1963, March on Washington, which brought together more than 200,000 people. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

 

 

More than 700 people attend a "freedom march" protesting racial discrimination in Seattle. The marchers, many of whom were white, walked in silence but carried signs. The Rev. Mance Jackson announced that the Bon Marche promised 30 new jobs for African Americans in its downtown and Northgate stores. June 15,1963.

 

 

King's leadership in the civil-rights movement was challenged in the mid-1960s as others grew more militant. His interests, however, widened from civil rights to include criticism of the Vietnam War and a deeper concern over poverty. His plans for a Poor People's March to Washington were interrupted (1968) for a trip to Memphis, Tenn., in support of striking sanitation workers. on Apr. 4, 1968, he was shot and killed as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel (since 1991 a civil-rights museum).

 

 

 

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. looks at the glass door of

his rented beach cottage in St. Augustine, Fla.,

that was shot into on June 5, 1964.

No one was in the house at the time of the shooting.

King was in St. Augustine to meet with other integration leaders.

 

 

James Earl Ray, a career criminal, pleaded guilty to the murder and was convicted, but he soon recanted, claiming he was duped into his plea. Ray's conviction was subsequently upheld, but he eventually received support from members of King's family, who believed King to have been the victim of a conspiracy. Ray died in prison in 1998. In a jury trial in Memphis in 1999 the King family won a wrongful-death judgment against Loyd Jowers, who claimed (1993) that he had arranged the killing for a Mafia figure. Many experts, however, were unconvinced by the verdict, and in 2000, after an 18-month investigation, the Justice Dept. discredited Jowers and concluded that there was no evidence of an assassination plot.

 

 

King wrote Stride toward Freedom (1958),

Why We Can't Wait (1964),

and Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967).

His birthday is a national holiday, celebrated on the third Monday in January.

King's wife, Coretta Scott King, has carried on various aspects of his work.

She also wrote My Life with Martin Luther King (1989).

 

 

See biographies by K. L. Smith and I. G. Zepp, Jr. (1974), S. Oates (1982), and M. Frady (2001); C. S. King, My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. (1969); D. J. Garrow, Bearing the Cross (1986); T. Branch, Parting the Waters (1988) and Pillar of Fire (1997); M. E. Dyson, I May Not Get There with You (2000).

 

 

 

 

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/mlk