Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
by Neighborhood-Kids.com1/16/2008 4:35:49 PM
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the March on Washington in 1963.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an instrumental figure in the American Civil Rights Movements of the 1950s and 60s. A third generation Baptist minister, King devoted his life to achieving equality for all people regardless of the color of their skin.
King grew up in Atlanta, Georgia attending segregated public schools and Morehouse College. He went Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he was elected president of his predominately white class, and Boston University. He received his Ph.D in systematic theology in 1955.
Later that same year, he helped organize and lead a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama that lasted 382 days. A believer in the philosophies of Mohandas “Mahatma” Ghandi, King encouraged non-violence protests in the struggle for civil rights, including sit-ins and marches. The bus boycott ended On December 21, 1956 when the Supreme Court declared the segregation of public transport unconstitutional.
For the remainder of his life, King travelled over six million miles and spoke at over twenty-five hundred gatherings. He also wrote five books and published many articles in his effort to educate people about the struggle for freedom. In 1963, King helped organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which was attended by 250,000 people. In front of the Lincoln Memorial, King gave a speech that would later be known as the “I Have a Dream Speech.”
In 1964, King became the youngest man in history to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Since his death in 1968, he has received numerous other awards and honors. On January 20, 1986, the first Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was observed as a federal holiday. A movement to celebrate King’s work and memory through volunteer service began in 1994, encouraging people of all ages to celebrate the holiday with “a day ON, not a day off.”
Keep the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. alive, by sharing his message of freedom, tolerance, and peace with your children today.
To learn more about Dr. King, check out these websites:
Books for kids about Dr. King:
My Dream of Martin Luther King by Faith Ringgold
A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. by by David A. Adler and Robert Casilla (Illustrator)
What is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day? by Margaret Friskey