Martin Luther King, Jr.

martin_luther_king_jr

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States and he is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today.

A Baptist minister,[1] King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president.

King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history.

In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986.

Martin Luther King’s Biography on the Nobel Site.

The King Center

Youtube:

Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam

I’m Sorry Sir, You Don’t Know Me

A Time To Break Silence

I’ve Been To The Mountaintop, Part 1

I’ve Been To The Mountaintop, Part 2

Media:

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King Jr. (Author), Clayborne Carson (Author)

A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King (Author), James M. Washington (Editor)

Martin Luther King Jr. – I Have a Dream (1986)-DVD

The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. [ILLUSTRATED] by Johnny Ray Moore (Author), Amy Wummer (Illustrator)

The Measure of a Man (Facets)by Martin Luther, Jr. King (Author)

King (History Channel) (2008)-DVD

Biography – Martin Luther King Jr.: The Man and the Dream (A&E DVD Archives)

King (1978)-DVD
Starring: Paul Winfield, Cicely Tyson

Boycott (2001)-DVD

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