Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Devoted his life to helping people who were poor, disadvantaged, and racially oppressed in the United States.

He was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta and in 1948 graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951. King then began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and got his Doctor of Philosophy .when he was nineteen, working as a field secretary for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in St. Augustine, Florida in 1964. One day he was caught by five men and a woman who accused him of being a “communist and a Yankee.” When he learned of the incident, Martin Luther King was motivated and identified with the populist tradition and assigned him to organize poor whites. The heroes he honored are Gandhi and Rustin. Inspired by Gandhi's success with non-violent activism, which affected King in a profound way, deepening his understanding of non-violent resistance and his commitment to America’s struggle for civil rights. African American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who had studied Gandhi's teachings, counseled King to dedicate himself to the principles of non-violence, served as King's main advisor and mentor throughout his early activism, and was the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin's open homosexuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin.

King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, he said in his acceptance remark, "Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free". And then he continued to do his best to fight for the weakness and powerless people. At 33, he was pressing the case of civil rights with President John Kennedy. At 34, he galvanized the nation with his "I Have a Dream" speech. And at 39, he was assassinated, but he left a legacy of hope and inspiration that continues today.