Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.?

By Ajae Tyler

  

In the early ‘60s and even before that, there was no unity among races.  If it was not for Martin Luther King, Jr. we would still be going to different schools based on our skin color.

King was a strong leader, a person who believed in peace and justice to win more freedom for African Americans. We honor his birthday on the third Monday in January.

Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929. Early in his adult life, he became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL. He soon became a member of the NAACP and led the bus boycott that ended segregation in public transportation.

From 1957-1968, he traveled six million miles and spoke over 25,000 times, with one massive protest in Birmingham, AL.

King is most famous for his seventeen-minute “I Have a Dream” speech that he delivered on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial. In it he called for “racial equality and an end to discrimination.”

Dr. King died from an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN while standing on the balcony of his hotel room.  Even though his life came to an abrupt end, he died fighting for what and who he believed in.

The legacy of Dr. King lives in each of us, and we are responsible to promote, teach and live the American dream he envisioned.