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T Par 1666004205 Little People Big Dreams Martin Luther King JR Fact File - Ver - 1

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41 views2 pages

T Par 1666004205 Little People Big Dreams Martin Luther King JR Fact File - Ver - 1

Uploaded by

Ivan Trivino
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Martin Luther King Jr

Early Life
Martin Luther King Jr was named Michael King Jr at his birth in
Atlanta, USA, and had his name changed at the age of 5 after the
German priest Martin Luther. Martin Luther King Jr’s father came
Name: Martin from a family of pastors, and he often encouraged his children
Luther King Jr (born to read aloud from the bible at home. As a child, Martin made
Michael King Jr) friends with a White boy and was upset when he had to go to a
school for Black children only, without his friend. He was even
Dates: January 15th
more upset when his friend’s mother would no longer allow him
1929 - April 4th 1968
to go around to play because of the colour of his skin, prompting
Place of his family to explain racism to him. Martin struggled with angry
Birth: Atlanta, feelings towards White people and his Christian duty to be kind
Georgia, USA to everyone and focused his energy on the church, where he
loved to sing hymns. Martin would often get into fights with
Famous For:
neighbourhood children, but he wasn’t very strong - instead, he
leading the civil
won his fights with the power of words.
rights movement
in the United
States and fighting Education
against racism and
Martin Luther King Jr promised to spend his life using words to
inequality.
fight inequality. He loved to read about Gandhi, an Indian lawyer
who changed many lives through peaceful protests. He joined the
debate team at his high school and became well known for his
public speaking skills. Once, Martin won a debate competition
with a passionate speech about how Black Americans were still
being treated poorly, only to be forced by the bus driver to stand
for the entire journey home so that White people could sit. Martin
started studying at Morehouse College at the age of 15, often
travelling north with his friends to Connecticut, where he was
amazed to see how well Black people were treated compared
to his home in the south. After graduating, Martin went on to
study religion in Pennsylvania and then in Boston, gaining his
Illustrated by: Mai Ly Degnan
PhD in 1955.

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Martin Luther King Jr

Montgomery Bus Boycott


After completing his studies, Martin moved to Montgomery, Alabama and
began working as a pastor. He used his public speaking skills to urge those
that visited his church to speak out against injustice. When
Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat
on the bus, Martin urged the community to boycott the
city’s public transport until they were treated fairly.
The boycott lasted for 385 days, and even though
Martin always protested peacefully, he was arrested
several times. The arrests made him a well-known
figure to the media and when the boycott ended and
Black people were treated fairly on the buses, Martin
became nationally known for his position in the fight for
racial equality.

‘I have a dream...’
Following his victory at the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin led many
campaigns against segregation and made countless inspirational speeches, but
none were as well known as his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech. The speech was
given on the 28th August 1963, to a large group of civil rights activists at the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. During the 17-minute long speech, Martin
strayed away from his carefully written notes to tell the crowd about his dream
for his children to grow up without fear of being judged by the colour of their
skin. The speech was a huge success, and a year later, in 1964, a step was made
towards Martin’s goal with the passing of the Civil Rights Act.

Nobel Peace Prize


Because of Martin’s amazing, lifelong work, he won the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1964. This made him the youngest person to ever win the prize, at the
age of 35. People were impressed with the way that Martin had been able to
change so many people’s lives for the better with the power of just his words.
Upon receiving the prize money, Martin continued to show his kindness by
immediately donating the full amount to the activists that were still fighting
for civil rights.

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