Biography of Martin Luther King Jr. - AS403 - Mohawk College Essay

This essay provides a comprehensive biography of Martin Luther King Jr., focusing on his pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement. Born Michael King Jr., he later adopted the name Martin Luther King Jr. and emerged as a prominent leader advocating for equal rights for African Americans. His leadership in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the establishment of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) underscored his commitment to nonviolent resistance. Inspired by Gandhi's principles, King traveled extensively, championing justice and equality. The essay highlights his lasting relevance in American society, recognizing his contributions to democracy and his iconic status in US history. Desklib provides access to similar documents and study tools for students.

Running Head: BIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR
BIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR
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1BIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR
Introduction
Martin Luther King Jr. was the famous Afro-American activist during the Civil Rights
Movement in 1954. He was the stalwart leader in the Civil Rights movement and fought for
equal rights of the American people irrespective of their colour and launched a nonviolent
resistance to overcome injustice. At that time the white domination and suppression over the
blacks in America compelled him to end the nefarious segregation laws that prevented the blacks
from entering restaurants, hotels and public schools. It directly violated the foundation of
American independence and citizenship rights. He got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his
benevolent contribution for nonviolence and peace around the world (Garrow, 2015). In this
regard, this essay is trying to portray the biography of Martin Luther King Jr. and highlighting
his lifetime benevolence.
Main body
Born on 15th January, 1929, at Atlanta Georgia, initially he was named Michael King. His
parents were Martin Luther King Jr. and Alberta Williams King. His father was greatly moved
by the Baptist World Alliance during a trip in Germany and influenced heavily by the protestant
movement of Martin Luther. Martin Luther King Jr. had an Irish ancestry that helped him later to
develop a no-fear attitude (Alexander, 2017). His childhood was not as good as often he was
bitten and flogged by his father. His close friend was befriended at the age of six and he did not
get the permission of going to school until the age of 8. At the age of 15, he enrolled in the
Morehouse College which was known as a historically black college. In 1947, the young 18
years old boy started his career in the ministry. As per the research of DeWolf (2018) the Crozer
Theological Seminary was one of the critical turns in his life when he started understanding the

2BIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR
importance of religion and Jesus in his life. This was the time where he launched his political
career as the elected President of the student body at Crozer. Later on he persuaded his Doctoral
study on systematic theology at the Boston University.
At that time the US society was on the brink of a civil movement where the political
embargo was implied unconstitutionally on the African-American people. Slavery and
inhumanity were the major factors that escalated atrocities and grievances among the American
people who had an African origin. The infamous Jim Crow law put a dent into the discriminatory
practice in the form of racial clauses like no ‘black’ people would share public institutions and
transports with ‘whites’. Moreover, the Naturalisation Act of 1790 also manifested a mechanism
to alienate the black settlers from getting citizenship rights. Many sectarian and separatist groups
led by the white people started harassing, molesting and even murdering the African-Americans
that ushered a politics chaos within the state.
In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
Montgomery, Alabama. This was the foundation of his political activity and protests against the
infamous Jim Crow Law (Nimtz, 2016). Martin Luther King had a great personality and ability
to motivate others through his speech. At that time he was enrolled in the National Association
for the Advancement of Coloured People. During the year 1955, he became the leader of the
Negro nonviolent demonstration ever occurred in the United States. The Montgomery Bus
boycott was contributed a lot of exposure in the protest against the Civil rights. In the Year 1957,
with the help of other activists Martin Luther King founded the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference with the purpose to claim for the rights of the African-Americans and abolished the
discriminatory civil rights (Alexander, 2017). The ideals of Gandhi and his nonviolence
principles were rightly followed by the supporters of Martin Luther King Jr. During his eleven

3BIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR
years of prolonging fight from 1957 to 1968, King travelled over Six million miles and raised
voice against injustice, protest and actions.
Conclusion
From that point of view, it can be argued that Martin Luther King Jr. has relevance in the
US society still now. His fight for the rights of the US people is identified as one of the
humanitarian steps that led to set a global example of US democracy as the rock-solid and best
across the world. Therefore, it can be concluded that Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the iconic
personality in US history.

4BIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR
Reference
Alexander, J. C. (2017). Seizing the Stage: Social Performances from Mao Zedong to Martin
Luther King Jr., and Black Lives Matter Today. TDR/The Drama Review, 61(1), 14-42.
DeWolf, L. H. (2018). Martin Luther King, Jr., as Theologian. Journal of the
Interdenominational Theological Center, 4(2), 10.
Garrow, D.J., 2015. Bearing the cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian
leadership conference. Open Road Media.
King, R. H. (2015). ‘How long? Not long’: Selma, Martin Luther King and civil rights
narratives. Patterns of Prejudice, 49(5), 466-485.
Nimtz, A. H. (2016). Violence and/or Nonviolence in the Success of the Civil Rights Movement:
The Malcolm X–Martin Luther King, Jr. Nexus. New Political Science, 38(1), 1-22.