Martin Luther King, Jr.

The legal victory of Brown v. Board of Education was just one step in the fight against segregation. It did not change things as quickly as people had hoped. African Americans were ready to do more, and they began to organize. At this moment in history, a new leader arrived. He was a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr.

King was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, to a middle class family. He was the son and grandson of Baptist ministers. His mother was a teacher. One of his grandfathers had been a slave. King excelled at school. He began college at the age of fifteen in a program for gifted students. He went to Morehouse College, a well-known all-black school in Atlanta. By the time King was eighteen, he had decided to follow in his father’s footsteps.

While at Boston University finishing his studies to be a minister, King met Coretta Scott. She was studying voice and piano. The two were married in 1953 and the following year, Reverend King became pastor of a church in Montgomery, Alabama. He quickly became known for his wisdom and powerful preaching. Then in December 1955, an event took place that would make Martin Luther King, Jr., a leader of the Civil Rights Movement.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.