Life Behind the Fight
“Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaks in New York, 1965”, Gale Biography Online Collection
Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the second of three children. He was born as Michael Luther King, Jr. after his father, but he and his father later changed their first names to Martin. His mother was Alberta Williams King. His father, Martin Luther King Sr. was a minister. Martin Luther King, Jr. later got married to Coretta Scott King, who was an author, and a fellow civil rights activist. They had four kids, Martin Luther King III, Yolanda, Dexter, and Bernice King. Martin Luther King Jr. attended Boston University from 1951-1955.
He became an American Baptist minister, who became one of the most well known civil rights activists in U.S. history.
Martin grew up in the southern part of the U.S., where segregation and discrimination against people of color was very common. This is what caused the start of King’s long fight for Civil Rights.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
-Martin Luther King, Jr. 1963
Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King at their wedding, The Boston Globe