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Remembering an American Hero: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
It is almost impossible to imagine now, but less than 40 years ago in some parts of the United States, black Americans weren’t allowed to go to the same schools or restaurants as white Americans. They weren’t allowed to drink from the same water fountains or use the same restrooms. They had to sit in the back of public buses. They could be thrown in jail if they disobeyed.
Under the courageous leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., black Americans and many white Americans joined together in the 1950s and 1960s to fight the racist, immoral laws.
Their movement, through nonviolent protests, marches, boycotts and powerful speeches, led to civil rights laws that made segregation illegal and protected people of all races against discrimination.
In January, we honor Dr. King’s legacy with a federal holiday that falls on the third Monday of the month, near his birthday. The holiday was established in 1983 and first celebrated in 1986.
Dr. King was born Jan. 15, 1929. He was just 39 years old when he died, killed by an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. He had gone to Memphis to lend his support to black sanitation workers who were on strike because the city was treating them unfairly. Workers’ rights, like civil rights, were very important to Dr. King.
Just hours before he was shot, he talked to strikers and other workers and urged them not to give up, and to stick together. “Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point,” he said. “Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together or we go down together.”
Dr. King’s father was a Baptist minister and his mother was a schoolteacher. Young Martin was such a good student that he skipped several grades and started college when he was only 15 years old. He is called “doctor” because he earned an advanced degree in theology, the study of religion. He is also known as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. because he was ordained as a minister when he was 18.
A man of great faith, Dr. King believed deeply that people of all races are entitled to equal rights under the law. He was an excellent public speaker and expertly used his verbal skills to fight to change laws and people’s hearts.
In 1955, he became nationally known when he led a successful boycott against the bus system in Montgomery, Ala. It started when a black woman, Rosa Parks, bravely refused a bus driver’s order to move to the back of the bus so a white passenger could sit down.
In the years that followed, King led many nonviolent protests against segregation in restaurants, hotels, housing and transit systems in the southern United States. In 1963, he organized the famous March on Washington and delivered his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech to more than 200,000 civil rights demonstrators.
“I have a 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 said. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Under the courageous leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., black Americans and many white Americans joined together in the 1950s and 1960s to fight the racist, immoral laws.
Their movement, through nonviolent protests, marches, boycotts and powerful speeches, led to civil rights laws that made segregation illegal and protected people of all races against discrimination.
In January, we honor Dr. King’s legacy with a federal holiday that falls on the third Monday of the month, near his birthday. The holiday was established in 1983 and first celebrated in 1986.
Dr. King was born Jan. 15, 1929. He was just 39 years old when he died, killed by an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. He had gone to Memphis to lend his support to black sanitation workers who were on strike because the city was treating them unfairly. Workers’ rights, like civil rights, were very important to Dr. King.
Just hours before he was shot, he talked to strikers and other workers and urged them not to give up, and to stick together. “Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point,” he said. “Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together or we go down together.”
Dr. King’s father was a Baptist minister and his mother was a schoolteacher. Young Martin was such a good student that he skipped several grades and started college when he was only 15 years old. He is called “doctor” because he earned an advanced degree in theology, the study of religion. He is also known as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. because he was ordained as a minister when he was 18.
A man of great faith, Dr. King believed deeply that people of all races are entitled to equal rights under the law. He was an excellent public speaker and expertly used his verbal skills to fight to change laws and people’s hearts.
In 1955, he became nationally known when he led a successful boycott against the bus system in Montgomery, Ala. It started when a black woman, Rosa Parks, bravely refused a bus driver’s order to move to the back of the bus so a white passenger could sit down.
In the years that followed, King led many nonviolent protests against segregation in restaurants, hotels, housing and transit systems in the southern United States. In 1963, he organized the famous March on Washington and delivered his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech to more than 200,000 civil rights demonstrators.
“I have a 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 said. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”