Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on the 15th of January 1929, in Atlanta Georgia (the

South of America). He was the second child of Alberta and Martin Luther King Sr.

Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in a prosperous family with love and comfort. When he was little

he enjoyed being part of the caring community of his father's church. His father

Martin Sr. often punished his children's bad behavior by beating them with a leather strap

, but Martin Jr. was always treated with great love and respect for his father. He was a sensitive

child, who tended to take responsibility for the misfortunes of others.

Growing up in the South was not easy for Martin Luther King, Jr. because black people were

treated very differently than white people. In the South

black people were kept apart from white people. Black people had to ride at the back of the bus

and also Black children and white children went to separate schools. The African American

facilities were always inferior to the white facilities. This system was called segregation and was

kept in place by huge number of state, city and county legal restrictions known as the ' Jim

Crow' laws.

Morehouse was one of the most respected African American colleges in the South,

and the discussion of racial matters was encouraged, he knew that he wanted to help his

community to nonviolently fight for a change, but was not sure how he should do so. His mind

rebelled against the literal interpretation of the bible favored by

most African American and white Southern churchmen; it seemed too simple and

unsophisticated, but the Morehouse principal, Dr Benjamin Mays, helped him decide. Martin

also became an admirer of two men who had combined religious faith with rebellion against their

governments: the white American Henry David Thoreau and the Indian Mohandas Gandhi.

Through 1957 and 1958 Martin gave speeches, he led marches, he banded people

together in protests, he made speeches and many people listened to his words and joined his

nonviolent fight. He became successful in his fights, but Martin also had a lot of white enemies,

they continued to harass him whenever they