01/17/2022
Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.'s life today and honoring his legacy.
*Born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, GA
*At 15 years old he attended Morehouse College and graduated 4 years later with a degree in Sociology
*He became an ordained Baptist reverend when he was 19 years old.
*He married Coretta Scott when he was 24.
*Dr King and his wife had 4 children.
*At 31, he began working full-time in pursuit of civil rights through nonviolent means, such as sit-ins and marches. The goals of the civil rights movement focused on abolishing racial discrimination in many areas including public transportation, employment, voting, and education.
*In August 1963, the March on Washington took place at Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. At this march, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic speech, I Have A Dream.
*At 35 years old he was the youngest person at the time to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.
*King helped to end legal segregation and was a key driving force behind the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
*The civil rights leader was arrested 29 times and assaulted four times
*Dr King is the only non-president to have a national holiday in his name.
*King was awarded 20 honorary degrees and was named ‘Man of the Year’ by Time magazine
*He died at 39 years old from an assassination at Memphis, Tennessee.
*Dr King’s life was one of hardship and struggle but also one of hope and building solidarity – the bonds he built and strides he helped make changed America and the world.
*It’s also noteworthy that when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was declared in 1986 as a federal holiday, not all states followed. It was only in the year 2000 when all 50 states in the US were able to officially celebrate the federal holiday under King’s name.
"From every mountainside, let freedom ring." MLK Jr