Martin Luther King Jr's non-violent struggle for racial justice in the United States has earned him a place in history as a vital figure The eloquent speaker is regarded as one of the founding leaders of the civil rights movement. Below are 12 facts about the life and legacy of the wordsmith.
His birth name was Michael King
King was named after his father, Michael King, when he was born on January 15, 1929. However, in 1934, his father, an African American pastor from Georgia, embarked on a religious trip to Germany and learned about Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation.
King Sr. found the protestant reformer inspiring and decided to change his name and that of his son to Martin Luther King in honour of the German theologian. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth certificate was officially revised on July 23, 1957, to reflect his name change.
He was determined to fight against racism from a young age
The civil rights icon narrated in his autobiography that he became passionate about fighting for racial justice right from his childhood after his white friend suddenly refused to play with him. He recalled that the incident spurred in him the desire to right the wrongs of racism.
King was 15 when he enrolled in college
Because of his high scores on the college entrance examinations in his junior year of high school, King was accepted into Morehouse College at age 15, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
He wanted a career in law or medicine
King wasn't planning to become a minister, but his encounter with George Kelsey, a theologian, and educator, in college inspired him to become a minister. The activist admired his tutor for using the bible to address social issues. Kelsey is credited with helping King understand that he could use the ministry as a medium for social justice and racial reform. Kelsey considered King as someone serious about the ministry.
He earned his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University
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After receiving a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Morehouse College and another degree in divinity from The Crozer Theological Seminary, King got admitted to Boston University, where he obtained a doctorate in 1955, making him a doctor of philosophy.
King married Coretta Scott
Following a relationship which began when he was at Boston University, King married Coretta Scott on June 18, 1953, in Alabama, and the couple settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where King had been appointed pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
The couple devoted much of their time to raising their four children: Yolanda Denise (1955), Martin Luther, III (1957), Dexter Scott (1961), and Bernice Albertine (1963).
King was arrested 30 times
The civil rights leader was arrested 30 times according to the King Center. The arrests occurred in different cities and for various reasons. On March 22, 1956, King, Rosa Parks, and more than 100 others were arrested on charges of organising the Montgomery Bus Boycott to protest Parks' treatment.
On September 3, 1958, while attempting to attend the arraignment of a man accused of assaulting Ralph Abernathy, he was arrested outside Montgomery’s Recorder’s Court and charged with loitering. The activist was released later on a $100 bond. On another occasion, King was arrested in October 1960 after a sit-in at a department store in Atlanta and was held in Georgia State Prison. The records of his arrests were detailed by the King Institute.
The famed 'I Have a Dream' speech was the most notable address King delivered
King is renowned for his iconic oration at the March on Washington in 1963, where he addressed over 260,000 people. But that speech wasn't the only memorable address he delivered during his life. The civil rights leader was known to have delivered speeches on other pressing issues, such as voting rights and the economic empowerment of Black people.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize at 35
In 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violence civil rights campaigns. At 35 at the time, he was one of the youngest to have received this global honour.
He survived an assassination attempt a decade before his death
In September 1958, King was stabbed by a woman with a seven-inch blade as he signed copies of his book, Stride Toward Freedom, in Harlem, New York City.
The woman verified that he was King before stabbing him with the blade. King underwent hours of delicate emergency surgery to save his life. According to the King Institute, surgeons said the activist was "a sneeze away from death," because the knife was so close to a major artery.
King was believed to have foretold his death in a final speech
In a speech the night before his assassination, he told an audience at Mason Temple Church that he had seen the promised land but may not get there. He made the statement in Memphis in April 1968, where he went to support the strike of the city’s Black garbage workers. Some people view his last speech as a premonition of his death.
He was killed at 39
King was shot on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. The civil rights leader was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the neck. He was rushed to a Memphis hospital, where he was pronounced dead. King was 39 years old.