Happy Birthday Dr King!

On January 15th 1929, Alberta Williams and Martin Luther King Sr. welcomed their second child. Born just after noon in an upstairs bedroom of 501 Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, Reverend King’s wife gave birth to their first son, and they named him after his father. Over the next 12 years the family would call this two story Queen Anne Victorian house their home. The house is now part of the Martin Luther King Jr National Historical Park, because their son grew up to be one of the most compelling speakers and activists of his generation.

Martin Luther King Jr was born and raised in Georgia. At that time in the southern United States, Jim Crow laws enforced a caste system that dictated daily life for Black Americans. His life’s trajectory was influenced by his experiences, his education and his faith.

King studied medicine and law at Morehouse College in Atlanta, before heading north to Boston University, where he earned a doctorate in theology.  It was there that he met Coretta Scott, the two were wed in 1953. King moved to Alabama to pastor Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. Soon after his return south, Montgomery became a seedbed for activism and resistance. King helped organize the Bus Boycotts that followed Rosa Parks arrest after she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a group committed to securing full equality for African Americans through nonviolent protest.

By 1963, King had become the most nationally recognized leader in the modern Civil Rights Movement. Along with other other prominent activists, he led the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was there, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he delivered the “I Have a Dream'' speech.  The civil disobedience of the Civil Rights Movement led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

King was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for his dynamic leadership and steadfast commitment to achieving racial justice through nonviolent action.  He was also outspoken in his opposition to American involvement in the war in Vietnam.

Despite the accolades and achievements, he was the target of surveillance, harassment, and a malicious disinformation campaign sponsored by the US government. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was particularly obsessed with King, and saw his voice and views as a threat to national security.  King never faltered in his commitment to cause, and he was killed for his convictions. He was shot on April 4th, 1968, outside of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was only 39.

While his life was cut short, his life’s work and his message still resonate today.  

Happy Birthday Dr. King! Thank you for your life and legacy.

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Rachel TraceyComment