Martin Luther King Jr

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools”

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on the 15th of January, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the son of Reverend Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Martin had a brother, Alfred, and a sister, Christine. Both his father and grandfather were ministers; his mother was a schoolteacher which had taught Martin how to read before he entered school.

Martin was proven to have achieved well throughout school, achieving excellent results. He even skipped grades in both elementary and high school. His hobbies included reading, singing, biking, and also playing sports such as football and baseball.

Upon leaving school, Martin entered Morehouse College which was located in his hometown; he was only 15 when he went. Starting from an early age, his mother and father taught him an important aspect of life, which was to treat all people with respect, regardless of race or religion. One reason they taught him this, was to decrease the racism he would face as he progressed through his childhood, and throughout his life for that matter. Martin’s father worked hard to breakdown the barrier that was between races.

As Martin grew older, he started to realise that black and white people were treated differently in many aspects, for example, they couldn’t drink from the same water fountain nor could they use the same restrooms. Growing up, Martin’s best companion was white and as children they interacted happily together. However, when it came to the time that Martin was going to school, they never played again. Solely because of the fact that black and white people went to different schools.

During college, Martin decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a minister himself. While at college, Martin met a young women named Coretta Scott which he would later marry. In 1954, Martin received his PHD and accepted the job of pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Martin would from this moment on, be addressed as “Dr. King”