Martin+Luther+King,+Jr.

=Martin Luther King, Jr.= by Antonja and Thomas

Important Dates
Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a preacher. He could not understand why white people and black people could not be together and equal. He started high school when he was thirteen. He won a speech contest and when it was over he and his teacher got on the bus with the white people. The driver came and told them to get up and give his seat to the white people. He said no but he got up anyway. When he was 15, he went to college in Atlanta. Then he went to a school in Pennsylvania and trained to be a minister like his dad. He preached about loving each other and for blacks to try to get equal rights peacefully. He met Coretta Scott and they got married and had three children. They lived in Alabama where he was a minister. In 1955, Rosa Parks got arrested for not giving her seat to a white person on a bus. He preached for things to change for black people. Finally the Supreme Court said black people could ride like white people. There were still laws in Alabama that said black people had to use different lunch counters and bathrooms. Martin preached against those laws and was arrested in 1960 while he was protesting. On August 28, 1963, he gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C. He kept preaching and leading marches for equal rights. In 1964, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 4,1968, he died in Memphis. He was shot by James Earl Ray. On the third Monday, in January, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day for the work he did for equal rights.

Why is this person famous?
He fought for all humans to have equal rights.



Interesting Facts
Martin's nickname was M.L. When he was seven, he said he wanted to be a minister. Later, he became a minister. Martin went to high school at age 13. His name when he was born was Michael, but he later changed it to Martin. Martin's grave says "Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty I'm free at last.''