Even from a young age, King Jr. had to mature quickly due to the shades of segregation and the isolation he felt day to day but overall grew up in a loving and safe home with his sister Willie Christine, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. Even though his parents tried their best to conceal their family from racism and prejudice it was never enough to because it was always coming from behind. At 12 years old, Martin Luther king Jr. attempted to commit suicide because he came home from a march that his parents told him not to go to only to find out that his grandmother had died. When he heard the new full with the guilt he jumped a 2 story window of his family home. MLK's father, Martin Luther King Sr, was a deeply influencing figure to MLK because he constantly shared his opinion on how the nation's system of segregation.
Following his father's lead, he became a minister at a struggling Ebenezer Baptist church. He attended Booker T. Washington High School, where he skipped the ninth and eleventh grades and went to college age 15 on September 20, 1944.
He became the president of a religious movement group, Montgomery Improvement Association(MIA) where he was received threats about his thoughts on freedom. leading to later on having his home being bombed on January 30, 1956, and leading to his first pleading in nonviolence. MLK met with 3 presidents, Dwight Eisenhower in 1958, President Johnson along with JFKennedy in 1963, regarding civil rights and all tried to do their play in the movement for equality. he even met with Richard Nixon before when he was vice president.
He was a jail 29 times and learning from his experience how cruel the system could be. He an icon and inspiration to many activists who wished for changed and other than the president Abraham Lincoln the only person we know today that we celebrate his birthday proving that he was a great leader because so many still honor him and his accomplishments
http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-resources
http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-resources
Great post Alex! I think it really highlights how influential and inspiring MLK was and is to many people. Learning about MLK wanting to commit suicide was very interesting considering he always seemed to be such a confident man in his protests. It also fascinating how he attended college at only 15! The number of times he was jailed is shocking but it shows his determination and passion towards what he believes in. Great work!
ReplyDeleteGood post. It was interesting to learn about King's early life became it shows how he became the person he went on to be and its good to know about his early life since all we learn about is what he did later on in his life with the Civil rights movement.
ReplyDeleteYour Post is very well put together and I learned that even those who go on to be influential people can experience hardships and attempt suicide. I like how you say that his parents tried to hide racism from them but MLK later on goes with others into some of the most racist cities in America during the civil rights movement.
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