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
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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
Martin Luther King Jr. was an African American Leader During the Civil Rights Movement. Mr.King was also a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 at the age of 39. He had 4 kids and a wife named Coretta Scott King. King was most important during the Civil Rights Movement. He was a very effective Civil Rights leader. He has many many speeches during his lifetime. His last words in public were I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!"
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. King, both a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist, had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s. Among many efforts, King headed the SCLC. Through his activism, he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the South and other areas of the nation, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors. King was assassinated in April 1968, and continues to be remembered as one of the most lauded African-American leaders in
Martin Luther King Jr. born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia with the name of Michael King Jr.. He was the second child of Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. His father was a minister of Ebenezer Baptist church and with Martin spent a lot of time in church. He grew up in a period in United States when african americans suffered from segregation and discrimination. In 1953, he married Coretta Scott and they had four children. Martin was inspired to fight for the civil rights with non-violence of Mahamat Ghandi. In 1964, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He died on the evening of April 4, 1968; he was shot in Memphis, Tennessee.
In conclusion, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. brought the county together to fight for the cause of equal rights. Dr. King was fatally shot on April 4th, 1968 when he was on the balcony of his hotel. The country went to rioting as soon as Dr. King died and the country was a madhouse that day (Bio.com). The man who shot King was a Southerner named James Earl Ray who died 30 years after the shooting (kingencyclopedia.stanford). Dr. King did many things over the course of his life but most importantly he got his dream accomplished by the 15th
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929 and was the son of one of the most important Baptist ministers in the South. King grew up in a middle class home and was surrounded by love. At the age of 15, he passed the entrance exam to Morehouse university and furthered his education by receiving his Ph.D. in theology. King followed in his dad and grandfather’s footsteps and wanted to become a local pastor and took his first job at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy made the most sense for 1960’s America because of his views on integrating schools, nonviolent civil disobedience and the way he was able to communicate to the people of his time.
To begin with, Martin Luther King Jr, originally born as Michael King Jr, was born on January 15, 1929. He was born in Georgia to Alberta Williams King and Michael King Senior. Michael King Senior was a minister for Ebenezer Baptist church and changed his name from Michael King Senior to Martin Luther King Sr. Martin Luther King Jr grew up in a sheltered, middle class community but still experienced racism. When he was six years old one of his white friends declared he would no longer play with him because they were “different” from each other.
Martin Luther King Jr. was originally born as Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929. His family was very religious and his father had changed his own and five year old King Jr.’s names from Michael to Martin, in honor of the sixteenth-century German Protestant religious leader, Martin Luther. King Sr. was from a poor farming community and had risen in social status through marriage and education (Berg). After the death of his father-in-law, King Sr. became the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, he was a successful minister and served as president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP.
Imagine you were brutally beaten, or even killed because of your race and your family was threatened due to their religion. Imagine you lived in a place, where everywhere you went was segregated with signs that say “Whites only” and “Blacks only”. This is what life was like for Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960’s until he died. Martin Luther King Jr, was an iconic figure that led the Civil rights Movement from the 1950s to 1968 (Biography.com editors). To fully grasp what Martin Luther King Jr. did for our country and what he went through daily one will need to know about his early life, rise to fame, and the legacy he left behind.
This would be the last march he participated in. After the march over he went back to Lorraine motel to relax for the day. He was on the second story of his balcony when he was shot in the head. He was rushed to St Joseph’s hospital were he was later pronounced dead. After this great hero was assassinated many riots started to take place in many black neighborhood. On April 8, Coretta King and huge crowd of 40,000 people walked in a silent march through the street of Memphis to honor the death of a great hero. After a two month manhunt for the killer they finally tracked him down. The killer turned out to be James Earl Ray. He pleaded guilty and was sentence to 99 year in jail.
Based on the information in Britannica School Encyclopedia Martin Luther King Jr. was a historical figure in African American history. He held many things to end segregation. Martin Luther King was a hero in the civil rights movement.
He had a career of being a very influential social justice leader and icon. He had many successes and times he would be thrown in jail. On April 4, 1968 he was shot by a man named James Earl Ray. He was shot by a sniper’s bullet and was announced dead. Many people
Doctor Martin Luther King was civil right activities who was brutally assassinated on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis Tennessee. The author National Achieves (2016) promulgates some key points identified in the Martin Luther Assignation. On April 06, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther Kings exited his hotel room and stepped out on the second-floor balcony. Dr. King was struck by a high caliber rifle in the cheek. “Dr. King was wounded and at 7:05 pm he was transported to the St. Joseph hospital in Memphis TN where he was later pronounced dead. The assailant James Earl Ray was perused, captured and plead guilty to the Murder of Dr. King. Although James Earl Ray admitted that he committed the crime of murder in cold blood, some critics believe that he did not act alone while some believe he did
Martin Luther king Jr was born on January 15, 1952, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was son to reverend Martin Luther King Sr and his mother Alberta Williams King, who was also a reverend. MLK Jr was originally named as Michael King Jr, after his father. But his father changed it to Martin to honor the religious reformer, Martin Luther. Jr grew up with an older sister, Willie Christine King, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. Growing up, King wanted to be a well-educated man. He excelled in his curricular activities and was even admitted to Morehouse College at age 15. But even through King’s success, there was racial tension. One of the first instances of racial inequality was when King’s family was escorted out of the back of a shoe
For instance, King was arrested numerous times for participating in sit-ins and boycotts. (Important Dates of MLK 48). Also, while at a mass meeting, his home was bombed on January 30, 1956 but luckily no one was injured. (Important Dates of MLK 46). Then on September 20, 1958 Martin Luther King Junior was stabbed at a book signing by Izola Ware Curry, but survived. Then, the worst happened on April 4, 1968 at 6:00 PM, King was shot by James Earl Ray, on the balcony of room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee where he was staying. He was then rushed to St. Joseph Hospital, where he died. (Important Dates of MLK 54). James Earl Ray was sentenced to 99 years in prison for the murder of Martin Luther King Junior. (Stein
On the night of April 3, King gave a speech at the Mason Temple Church in Memphis. Just after 6 p.m. the following day, King was standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel, where he and his associates were staying, when a sniper’s bullet struck him in the neck. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later, at the age of 39