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What Is Martin Luther King's Death

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The Life and Death of Martin Luther King Jr.

This biography by James Haskins covers King’s childhood and upbringing all the way up to his assassination on April 4, 1968. Haskins also adds the backstory on King’s assassin: James Earl Ray and the man hunt that ensued after. King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He and his father were both named Michael King at birth but when the family traveled to Germany in 1934 King Senior decided to rename himself and his son after the protestant leader Martin Luther. King Junior grew up in Atlanta and attended Booker T. Washington High School. During the summer he worked at a local tobacco farm where he worked side by side with whites and experienced very little racism. Growing up, his father …show more content…

In the same year James Earl Ray had escaped from the Missouri State Prison where he was to serve 20 years for armed robbery. In 1968 King appeared in Memphis to help with the Sanitation Workers Strike. On April 4, 1968 King exited his room at the Lorraine motel with his colleagues and was shot in the chest by James Earl Ray who was positioned across the parking lot in a small window. King died immediately, but even if he had survived the bullet had severed his spinal cord which would have left him paralyzed. James Earl Ray was able to get away and the man hunt for King’s assassin had begun. When the news spread around the United States more than one hundred cities broke into a violent …show more content…

adds a lot of values to our social studies topic. The values of ideology and individual rights and freedoms are some examples. The ideology of an entire minority at the time was projected through King and his words. Telling his story through a biography creates a more relatable feeling towards a leader’s influence. This is important because people today will never be able to experience this influence first hand. As you read through you begin to understand where his ideology began and why it is so strongly supported. This understanding is not often easy to grasp through a textbook’s examples or a short summary of an event. This biography also helps give a more in depth look into the fight for individual rights and freedoms and what they represent. The 1960s were not very long ago and people were being beaten and tear gassed to be seen as equals. After reading this biography other events in the past and even some situations today will be easier to understand because of the type of problems MLK Jr. experienced in his life. This includes why violence may occur from extremist groups and why oppressed groups like aboriginals are still fighting for rights

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