Martin Luther King Jr

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"Martin Luther King", "MLK", "Reverend King", and "Luther King" redirect here. For the Nigerian preacher, see Reverend King (Nigerian pastor). For the Portuguese footballer known as Luther King, seeMartin Simões. For other uses, see Martin Luther King (disambiguation) and MLK (disambiguation).

Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr., January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using the tactics of nonviolence andcivil disobedience based on his Christianbeliefs and inspired by the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi.

Martin Luther King Jr.
King in 1964
1st President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
In office 1957–1968
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	Ralph Abernathy
Personal details
Born	Michael King Jr. January 15, 1929 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Died	April 4, 1968 (aged 39) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Cause of death	Gunshot head wound
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Coretta Scott (m. 1953)
Children	Yolanda Denise King Martin Luther King III Dexter Scott King Bernice Albertine King
Parents	Martin Luther King Sr. Alberta Williams King
Relatives	Christine King Farris (sister) Alfred Daniel Williams King(brother) Alveda King (niece)
Alma mater	Morehouse College Crozer Theological Seminary Boston University
Occupation	Minister   activist
Known for	Civil rights movement, Peace movement
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize (1964) Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977, posthumous) Congressional Gold Medal(2004, posthumous)
Monuments	Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Signature

King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, he led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. He also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequalitythrough nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year he and the SCLC took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, he expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled "Beyond Vietnam".

In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he wasassassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4 inMemphis, Tennessee. King's death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities. Ray, who fled the country, was arrested two months later at London Heathrow Airport. Ray was sentenced to 99 years in prison for King's murder, and died in 1998 from hepatitis while serving his sentence.

King was posthumously awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom and theCongressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also rededicated for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.