Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr was born on the 15th of January 1929. To be precise, he originated from a religious family situated in the United States of America in Atlanta, Georgia. His family was filled with renowned Baptist ministers. Their legacy resulted from inheritance from his grandfather on the mother’s side, Adam Daniel Williams. His father, Martin Luther Sr., pastored a Baptist church by the name of Ebenezer situated in Atlanta. The pastorate title that his father possessed was accompanied by a couple of privileges that were only valid to Martin Luther King Jr. As he grew up, he could access experience and quality education that children from poorer rural and urban areas could not afford.
Even though his upbringing secured Martin Luther King Jr middle-class social status, he experienced racial discrimination due to his black color. His family was completely devoted to its religion to entwining the church and the family’s lore. Therefore, Martin Luther King was highly expected to follow suit in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps. As a result, his expectations were set high. However, Martin Luther King Sr. disagreed with his son being their successor and addressing the same social issues such as segregation he had encountered earlier in his life. Consequently, he was enrolled in the close by college called Morehouse. His notion soon after his early high school completion in 1944 was for him to become a doctor or a lawyer.
Nevertheless, that was not the case. Martin Luther King Jr had made up his mind to settle for the ministry vocation. He was able to reach this decision via the aid of the teachings and percepts of some prominent individuals of Morehouse college. These individuals are Dr Benjamin Mays and George D. Kelsey, Morehouse’s president and a religion professor, respectively. The intellectuals named above made Martin Luther King Jr realize the ministry’s different intellectual and social traditions. He later graduated in the year 1948 with a Bachelor’s degree.
Martin Luther being a go-getter, did not stop his journey of pursuing higher education. In the same year of his graduation, he joined to further his studies at a seminary school in Chester, Pennsylvania, by the name Crozer Theological Seminary. Luther King Jr majored in Reinhold Niebuhr’s social and religious views, theology, ethics, Walter Rauschenbusch’s Social Gospel, and philosophy. Similarly, Luther King got well acquainted with Mohandas Gandhi’s nonviolent activism. During his three-year studies at Crozer, he surpassed his peers’, classmates’, and professors’ expectations, earning him their respect. As a result, Luther King earned some pre-eminent titles, such as the class’s valedictorian and student body president. In the same vein, he won prizes for being the most outstanding student at the same time earning the graduate study fellowship.
With such achievements, Martin Luther King Jr immediately admitted to Yale’s Boston University, which he chose despite being also accepted by Scotland’s Edinburg University after his applications. At Boston, he majored in systematic theology and made his professors proud again. His passion for learning, accompanied by his intelligence, surpassed that of his classmates and peers. He later graduated from Boston University in 1955 with a PhD degree. Having achieved this at such a young age, he settled for the pastorship position he was offered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The Baptist church was located in the southern interior of Montgomery, Alabama.
However, as if that wasn’t enough, he instated himself in a full-time pastorate position in 1954. Martin Luther King Jr strived to achieve several goals he had set aside during his first year in Dexter. Consequently, through his discipline and self-improvement, he managed to accomplish some set targets. For instance, he completed his treatise and organized his church by activating his believers’ political and social cognizance. At the same time, he intertwined his acquired knowledge with that of Dexter to become the best preacher.
During Martin Luther King Jr’s success period, it came to attention that there was ongoing segregation of black people. Blacks were discriminated against in public transportation, which did not sit well with some communities in cities resided by blacks. These groups amalgamated to boycott busses which was a success. These events had set in just after he had finished settling in in his new and permanent occupation. At the same time, he had just received his bundle of joy of being made a father. Afterwards, groups such as the Baptist Ministers Conference, the Women’s Political Council, etcetera formed an association known as the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). The association was to prevent the blacks from being oppressed rightfully, and Martin Luther King Jr was elected as the first president.
For 382 days, Luther King and his supporters continued their boycott and resilience. After some time, their demands were rejected and their measures blocked. Additionally, this did not stop the groups who advanced to carpools. These actions did not sit well with white officials. As a result, Martin Luther King Jr was arrested and defamed, accompanied by the bombing of his house. Yet, this did not stop Luther King from spreading the words of wisdom to all boycotters. Later on, the blacks gained victory through the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against Montgomery’s segregation.
Resultantly, Luther King and some renowned black rulers formulated a coalition called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). King was elected as the president as well. This was a grand opportunity that paved the way for a considerable number of opportunities, such as touring different continents and writing books as a result of what he experienced in Montgomery. As a result, Luther King received an offer of a co-pastor in the Ebenezer Baptist Church position from his father. To be able to navigate his new fame and position at the SCLC, he accepted the offer and relocated back to Atlanta in 1959.
Martin Luther King Jr worked tirelessly to see black communities and individuals live free and comfortable lives without racism. To Luther King, this was a great achievement that insinuated that he had overcome the tribulations of racism he faced when growing up by being an advocate for the rights of all black people. Martin Luther King Jr is an admirable legend who, against all odds, strived and pushed on to see that his fellow black people were freed from racism and oppression. He rests in peace knowing that he fought for the rights of blacks tirelessly and eventually won.