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Martin
Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr. January 15,
1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Christian minister and activist
who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.
King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence
and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian
beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma
Gandhi.
King
led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the
first president of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he then led an unsuccessful 1962
struggle against segregation in Albany,
Georgia, and helped organize the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. He helped organize the
1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his
famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial.
King
led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the
first president of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he then led an unsuccessful 1962
struggle against segregation in Albany,
Georgia, and helped organize the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. He helped organize the
1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his
famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial.
On October 14, 1964, King won the Nobel
Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped
organize the Selma to Montgomery marches. In his final
years, he expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty, capitalism, and the Vietnam
War. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover considered him a radical and made
him an object of the FBI's COINTELPRO from 1963 on. FBI agents investigated him for
possible communist ties, recorded his extramarital liaisons and reported on
them to government officials, and, in 1964, mailed King a threatening anonymous letter, which he
interpreted as an attempt to make him commit suicide.
King
was fatally shot by James Earl Ray at
6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968, as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony.
The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled
down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. After emergency chest
surgery, King died at St.
Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m. The assassination led to a
nationwide wave of race
riots in Washington, D.C.,
Chicago, Baltimore, Louisville,
Kansas City,
and dozens of other cities
Videos of Martin Luther King Jr.
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3 - I have a Dream (speech)
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