Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

By Joseph Kimsey

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 1929, and grew up in the Sweet Auburn area, famous for many influential African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. was the second child of pastor Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. He was one of three children, his older sister, the future Christine King Farris, and younger brother Alfred Daniel Williams King.
At the early age of 15, King was admitted to Morehouse College, the alma mater of his father and grandfather. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship, and was elected president of his predominantly white senior class. He then entered the graduate program at Boston University where he finished his coursework in 1953 and earned a doctorate in systematic theology two years later.

While living in Boston, King met Coretta Scott King and they married in 1953. The couple then moved to Montgomery, Alabama where they raised their four children Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King, and Bernice Albertine King. Not too long after moving and becoming the pastor of the now historic Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the city of Montgomery became the center of the civil rights movement. With many acts of nonviolent protests against segregation, King became the face of the civil rights movement.

Description

Beginning in the early 1960s, the civil rights movement began to establish non-violent protest known as the “sit in”. A sit-in is defined as “an organized passive protest, especially against racial segregation, in which the demonstrators occupy seats prohibited to them, as in restaurants and other public place. (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/sit-in) February 1960, when four black students from North Carolina A&T College sat down at a Woolworth “whites only” lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina started the trend of peaceful sit-ins as a form of protest. The movement opened the doors for others who were fed up with segregation and mistreatment of African Americans and migrated to Atlanta, Georgia. Sat down at a Woolworth “whites only” lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina started the trend of peaceful sit-ins as a form of protest. The movement opened the doors for others who were fed up with segregation and mistreatment of African Americans and migrated to Atlanta, Georgia.

African American students representing Atlanta’s historically black colleges formed the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR) to try to rid the city of segregation of the city’s lunch counters. After almost a month of planning, on October 19, 1960, students along with Martin Luther King Jr. conducted a sit-in at the Magnolia Room restaurant inside of Rich’s Department, which was Atlanta’s busiest store and largest retailer.
King did not facilitate the sit-in but felt like it was his moral duty to come and support the students. As a result of the sit-in, King and close to 300 students were arrested. The students were later released, but King remained detained while Georgia officials determined whether King violated parole conditions he received a month earlier for driving with a suspended license. It was determined that Dr. King had violated the terms of his parole and was sentenced to four months in Reidsville Georgia Prison. However, Dr. King did not serve his entire sentence as Robert Kennedy called the governor and got him released immediately after three days of imprisonment.