By Mitchell Brown
Louisiana State University

The remarkable life and journey of Martin Luther King, Jr. began at noon Tuesday, January 15, 1929, in the family home on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, Ga.

King is one of the most vital personalities of modern American and world history. His lectures and remarks stirred the concern and sparked the conscience of a generation.

The movements and marches King led brought significant changes in the fabric of American life and his courageous and selfless devotion gave direction to 13 years of civil rights activities. Even to this day, King's charismatic leadership inspires men and women, young and old, and the rich and poor across the United States and around the world.

King was the first son, and second child, born to the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. King had a sister, Christine King Farris, and a brother, the late Rev. Alfred Daniel Williams King.

King married the former Coretta Scott, younger daughter of Obadiah and Bernice McMurray Scott of Marion, Ala. on June 18, 1953. The marriage ceremony took place on the lawn of the Scotts' home in Marion. The elder King performed the service with Edythe Bagley, the sister of Mrs. King, maid of honor and Rev. A. D. King, the brother of Martin Luther King, Jr., best man.

Four children were born to King and his wife. They were Yolanda Denise, 1955; Martin Luther III, 1957; Dexter Scott, 1961; and Bernice Albertine, 1963.

King began his education at the Yonge Street Elementary School in Atlanta. Following Yonge, King was enrolled in the David T. Howard Elementary School. He also attended the Atlanta University Laboratory School and Booker T. Washington High School.

Because of his high score on the college entrance examinations in his junior year of high school, King advanced to Morehouse College without formal graduation from Booker T. Washington. Having skipped both the ninth and 12^th grades, King entered Morehouse at the age of 15.

In 1955, King earned his doctorate degree with his dissertation, "A Comparison of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Wieman."

King entered the Christian ministry and was ordained in February 1948 at the age of 19 at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta. Following his ordination, King became assistant pastor of Ebenezer. Upon completion of his studies at Boston University, King accepted the call of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery Ala.

From September 1954 until November 1959, King was the pastor of Dexter Avenue until he resigned to move to Atlanta to direct the activities of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. From 1960 until his death in 1968, he was co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church and President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

By this time King was clearly becoming the pivotal figure in the civil rights movement in America. He was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization that was responsible for the successful Montgomery bus boycott from 1955 to 1956 (381 days) and was arrested 30 times for his participation in civil rights activities.

King was a founder and president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference from 1957 to 1968. He was also vice president of the national Sunday School and Baptist Teaching Union Congress of the National Baptist Convention.

During his life, King received several hundred awards for his leadership in the civil rights movement. Most notable among them were:

The Springarn Medal from NAACP, 1957.

Named Man of the Year by Time, 1963.

The Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

The Rosa L. Parks Award, presented by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (posthumously), 1968.

King's concept of "somebodiness" gave black and poor people a new sense of worth and dignity. His philosophy of nonviolent direct action, and his strategies for rational and nondestructive social change, galvanized the conscience of the United States to reorder its priorities.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, for example, went to Congress as a result of the Selma-to-Montgomery march. King's wisdom, words, actions, commitment and dream for a new cast of life are intertwined with the American experience today.

King's speech at the march on Washington, D.C. in 1963; his acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize; his last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church; and his final speech in Memphis are among his most famous utterances. "The Letter from Birmingham Jail" ranks among the most important American documents and essays in American history.

While in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968 to help lead sanitation workers trying to organize a union, King was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel on April 4. Two months later, James Earl Ray was arrested in London, England, and returned to Memphis to stand trial for the assassination of King.

On March 9, 1969, before coming to trial, Ray entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. King's funeral was held April 9, in Atlanta at Ebenezer Church and on the campus of Morehouse College. President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed that day a day of mourning and flags were flown at half-staff.

The area where King is entombed is located on Freedom Plaza and surrounded by the Freedom Hall Complex of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change Inc. The Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site, a 23-acre area was listed as a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977, and was made a National Historic Site on October 10, 1980, by the U.S. Department of Interior.

Reprinted from Metro Detroit Labor News.

"... when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory." - Martin Luther King, Jr.