This summary was written by Clayborne Carson at The
Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project. The original includes
many embedded links to expand our understanding of Martin Luther
King. The Papers Project is a must visit site for more information
about this great man's life.
One of the most visible advocates of nonviolence and direct action
as methods of social change, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in
Atlanta on January 15, 1929. After attending Morehouse College in
Atlanta, King went on to study at Crozer Theological Seminary in
Pennsylvania and Boston University, where he deepened his understanding
of theological scholarship and explored Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent
strategy for social change. King married Coretta Scott in 1953,
and the following year he accepted the pastorate at Dexter Avenue
Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. King received his Ph.D. in
systematic theology in 1955.
On December 5, 1955, after civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused
to comply with Montgomery's segregation policy on buses, black residents
launched a bus boycott and elected King president of the newly-formed
Montgomery Improvement Association. The boycott continued throughout
1956 and King gained national prominence for his role in the campaign.
In December 1956 the United States Supreme Court declared Alabama's
segregation laws unconstitutional and Montgomery buses were desegregated
Seeking to build upon the success in Montgomery, King and other
southern black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) in 1957. In 1959, King toured India and further
developed his understanding of Gandhian nonviolent strategies. Later
that year, King resigned from Dexter and returned to Atlanta to
become co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church with his father.
In 1960, black college students initiated a wave of sit-in protests
that led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC). King supported the student movement and expressed
an interest in creating a youth arm of the SCLC. Student activists
admired King, but they were critical of his top-down leadership
style and were determined to maintain their autonomy. As an advisor
to SNCC, Ella Baker, who had previously served as associate director
of SCLC, made clear to representatives from other civil rights organizations
that SNCC was to remain a student-led organization. The 1961 "Freedom
Rides" heightened tensions between King and younger activists,
as he faced criticism for his decision not to participate in the
rides. Conflicts between SCLC and SNCC continued during the Albany
Movement of 1961 and 1962.
In the spring of 1963, King and SCLC lead mass demonstrations in
Birmingham, Alabama, where local white police officials were known
for their violent opposition to integration. Clashes between unarmed
black demonstrators and police armed with dogs and fire hoses generated
newspaper headlines throughout the world. President Kennedy responded
to the Birmingham protests by submitting broad civil rights legislation
to Congress, which led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of
1964. Subsequent mass demonstrations culminated in the March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which more
than 250,000 protesters gathered in Washington, D. C. It was on
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that King delivered his famous
"I Have a Dream" speech..
King's renown continued to grow as he became Time magazine's Man
of the Year in 1963 and the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in
1964. However, along with the fame and accolades came conflict within
the movement's leadership. Malcolm X's message of self-defense and
black nationalism resonated with northern, urban blacks more effectively
than King's call for nonviolence; King also faced public criticism
from "Black Power" proponent, Stokely Carmichael.
King's efficacy was not only hindered by divisions among black
leadership, but also by the increasing resistance he encountered
from national political leaders. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's
extensive efforts to undermine King's leadership were intensified
during 1967 as urban racial violence escalated, and King's public
criticism of U.S. intervention in the Vietnam War led to strained
relations with Lyndon Johnson's administration.
In late 1967, King initiated a Poor People's Campaign designed
to confront economic problems that had not been addressed by earlier
civil rights reforms. The following year, while supporting striking
sanitation workers in Memphis, King delivered his final address
"I've Been to the Mountaintop." The next day, April 4,
1968, he was assassinated.
To this day, King remains a controversial symbol of the African
American civil rights struggle, revered by many for his martyrdom
on behalf of nonviolence and condemned by others for his militancy
and insurgent views. CLAYBORNE CARSON
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