MARTIN LUTHER JR.

© WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/ TIM EVANSON REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. | LIFE AND TIMES

A Timeline of King’s Life he Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., leading T light of the American , was an advocate for nonviolent resistance to injustice and is recognized as a worldwide leader in civil rights, poverty and other injustice.

From The King Center, here is Montgomery. OCT. 23, 1957: Son Martin strations for civil rights in a timeline of notable events in DECEMBER 1955: Appointed Luther III born in Montgomery. Birmingham, Alabama. his life: head of the Montgomery NOV. 20, 1957: First book, AUG. 26, 1963: Gives the famous Improvement Association, “: The “” speech in JAN. 15, 1929: Born in which was formed to protest Montgomery Story,” published. Washington, D.C., during the to the Rev. Martin Luther King Rosa Parks’ arrest for refusing to SEPT. 20, 1958: Izola Curry March on Washington for Jobs Sr. and Alberta Williams King. move to give up her bus seat to attempts to kill King at a and Freedom. 1944-1948: Attends Morehouse a white man. King became one Harlem book signing. She DECEMBER 1964: Awarded the College in Atlanta. of the leaders of the stabbed him with a letter open- Nobel Peace Prize. 1948-1951: Attends Crozer , er. 1966: Moves to Chicago and Theological Seminary in which eventually led to the 1956 1960: Moves to Atlanta and, begins to fight against poverty. Pennsylvania. Supreme Court decision over- along with his father, becomes APRIL 4, 1967: Speaks out JUNE 18, 1953: Married Coretta turning Alabama’s bus segrega- co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist against the Vietnam War during Scott in Marion, Alabama. tion laws. Church. a speech in New York. 1954: Accepts job as pastor of JAN. 10, 1957: King, along with JAN. 30, 1961: Son Dexter Scott DECEMBER 1967: Begins the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church C.K. Steele, born in Atlanta. Poor People’s Campaign. in Montgomery, Alabama. and T.J. Jemison, form the MARCH 28, 1963: Daughter MARCH 28, 1968: Leads a march 1955: Graduates a doctor from Southern Christian Leadership Bernice Albertine born in supporting striking Memphis Boston University’s School of Conference. King is the presi- Atlanta. sanitation workers. Theology. dent. The group aims to coordi- APRIL 16, 1963: Writes “Letter APRIL 4, 1968: Assassinated by NOV. 17, 1955: Daughter, nate civil rights activities in the from a Birmingham Jail” after at the Lorraine Yolanda Denise, born in South. being arrested during demon- Motel in Memphis.

© ADOBE STOCK REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. | LEARNING THE LESSONS Teaching Kids About King ivil rights is a complicated issue for even grown-ups to work out and Martin Luther C King Jr. Day is more than just a day off school. Here are some activities you and your family can do together to help children understand King and the civil rights movement.

VISIT THE LIBRARY Hit the local library and help your child find some age-appropriate books about King and his message. Let them look up and listen to or watch parts of the “I Have A Dream” speech.

MAKE YOUR OWN BOOK Watch or listen to some of King’s speeches and have children create their own pic- ture books about what free- dom means. Get as crafty as you like with what you have on hand or go all out and make a family trip to the art supply store. For older kids, make a collage of words and phrases from King’s speech- es.

VISIT LOCAL CIVIL RIGHTS SITES Research your area and find sites that were once seg- regated or that otherwise preserve civil rights history and make a visit. Or find a statue or place that honors King and his legacy. If you are lucky enough to visit the nation’s capitol, you’ll find many historic sites and mon- uments related to King. © ADOBE STOCK

VISIT ANOTHER CHURCH ferent house of worship to your kids and talk about how RANDOM ACTS good works as a family. OR RELIGIOUS VENUE learn more about other reli- even though we are all OF KINDNESS Volunteer at a homeless shel- King’s faith was a pillar of gions and cultures. Share unique, there are certain Kindness goes a long way ter, pick up a city park, clean his work for nonviolent resis- your thoughts and feelings things, like faith, that can toward acceptance. In honor a playground. Work for a bet- tance to injustice. Visit a dif- about a different service with bring us together. of King, set aside time to do ter world for all of us. REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. | CONTEMPORARY FIGURES Spotlight: Rosa Parks n Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Louise O Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus.

By staying seated, she train in 1931. The case is stood up to racial injustice now regarded as a miscar- in America and helped riage of justice by using all- spark a wave of protest for white juries to convict, civil rights in the United repeatedly, the teenagers. States. Both Raymond and Rosa Keep reading for more Parks participated in about this contemporary of NAACP programs, where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Rosa served as secretary and youth leader of the EARLY LIFE local branch. Rosa’s 1955 Rosa Louise McCauley arrest sparked a wave of was born Feb. 4, 1913, in protests and the ASSOCIATED PRESS Tuskegee, Alabama, to Montgomery bus boycott James and Leona Edwards which lasted 381 days and McCauley. She had one featured King as a spokes- TOP: Rosa Parks is fingerprinted by an brother, Sylvester, who was person. Alabama police officer following her born two years later. She arrest. BOTTOM: President Barack Obama grew up in Pine Level, LATER YEARS sits in the famous Rosa Parks bus at the Alabama, and finished her Rosa Parks moved to Henry Ford Museum on April 18, 2012. education there at age 11. Detroit in 1957, where she McCauley then enrolled in became a deaconess in the the Montgomery Industrial African Methodist Episcopal School for Girls before Church. She also worked for going on to the Alabama Rep. John Conyers of State Teacher’s College High Michigan and helped found School. She married the Rosa and Raymond Raymond Parks Dec. 18, Parks Institute for Self 1931. Development for youth. Rosa Parks holds more LIVING FOR JUSTICE than 43 honorary doctorate Raymond Parks was an degrees and awards, includ- activist to free the ing the Presidential Medal Scottsboro Boys, three black of Freedom and the teenagers jailed and Congressional Gold Medal accused of raping two white of Honor. She died Oct. 24, women on an Alabama 2005. NATIONAL ARCHIVES REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. | ENDURING WISDOM

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STATE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES OF FLORIDA A Legacy of Inspiration he Rev. Martin your commitment to a campaign promise but symphony of brotherhood.” “What, then, can I say to the Vietcong, or to also to the principles of justice and freedom so — A Knock at Midnight, Aug. 9, 1964 Castro, or to Mao as a faithful minister to Jesus T Luther King Jr.’s basic to our democratic heritage.” Christ? Can I threaten them with death, or must words continue to inspire — telegram from King to President John F. “This tortuous road which has led from I not share with them my life?” Kennedy upon the Nov. 20, 1962, issuance of Montgomery, Alabama, to Oslo bears witness — Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam, April more than 50 years after Executive Order 11063, which mandated an end to this truth. This is a road over which millions 30, 1967 his death. Here are some to housing discrimination. of Negroes are traveling to find a new sense of dignity. This same road has opened for all “All men are brothers because they are children notable quotes from King “We are caught in an inescapable network of Americans a new era of progress and hope. It of a father.” from The King Center. mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. has lead to a new civil rights bill, and it will, I — The Drum Major Instinct, Feb. 4, 1968 Whatever affects one directly, affects all indi- am convinced, be widened and lengthened rectly.” into a super highway of justice as Negro and “It’s all right to talk about ‘streets flowing with “I know this whole experience is very difficult — letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963 white men in increasing numbers create alli- milk and honey,’ but God has commanded us for you to adjust to, especially in your condition ances to overcome their common problems.” to be concerned about the slums down here, of pregnancy, but as I said to you yesterday this “God never intended for one group of people to — Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, Dec. 10, 1964 and his children who can’t eat three square is the cross that we must bear for the freedom live in superfluous inordinate wealth, while oth- meals a day. It’s all right to talk about the new of our people.” ers live in abject deadening poverty.” “Without hard work, time itself becomes an ally Jerusalem, but one day God’s preacher must — letter from King to from pris- — , Aug. 11, 1963 of the primitive forces of social stagnation. Se talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, on in Reidsville, Georgia, Oct. 1, 1960. we must help time and realize that the time is the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the “With this faith we will be able to transform the always ripe to do right.” new Memphis, Tennessee.” “Your courageous action today reveals not only jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful — Oberlin College Commencement, Aug. 1, 1965 — I’ve Been to , April 3, 1968 REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. | CONTEMPORARY FIGURES Spotlight: alph Abernathy was a fellow pastor R and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s chief aide during the American civil rights movement. Keep reading to out more about the extraordinary life of this man.

EARLY YEARS the civil rights movement, King Born in Linden, Alabama, on and Abernathy relied on and March 11, 1926, Abernathy was supported each other, even the son of farmer William L. being jailed together 17 times. Abernathy and Louivery Bell As they had done in Abernathy. After serving in the Montgomery, King and Army during World War II, he Abernathy worked together in became a pastor and graduated Atlanta to found the Southern from Alabama State University Christian Leadership and Atlanta University. Conference, where Abernathy Abernathy first befriended King initially served as secretary-trea- after hearing him preach in surer, then vice president. After Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist King’s 1968 assassination, Church. Abernathy took up the mantle of leadership at the SCLC and in WORKING FOR JUSTICE King’s other initiatives, such as In 1952, Abernathy became the march for Memphis sanita- pastor of the First Baptist tion workers and the Poor Church in Montgomery. He was People’s Campaign. also active in the NAACP and chaired a committee on the LATER YEARS Brown v. Board of Education In 1977, Abernathy left the ruling. SCLC and returned to pastoral Abernathy and King helped work at the West Hunter Avenue organize the Montgomery bus Baptist Church in Atlanta. He boycott and the Montgomery also staged an unsuccessful run Improvement Association after for Congress. Abernathy pub- the arrest of Rosa Parks for lished his autobiography in refusing to give up her seat on a 1989, “The Walls Came LIBRARY OF CONGRESS city bus to a white man. During Tumbling Down.” REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. | A PATH TOWARD CHANGE Love and he Rev. Martin evil deed while hating the deed that the person does.” T Luther King Jr. was a staunch NONVIOLENCE King was introduced to non- believer that violence violence when he read Henry was not the way to David Thoreau’s “Essay on Civil Disobedience” as a freshman at resist injustice. Morehouse College. He was fascinated, he wrote, by the He and his supporters “idea of refusing to cooperate believed in transforming with an evil system.” During his Christian love into powerful education, King refined his peaceful change through grass- ideas about nonviolent protest roots organizing and nonvio- and social reform, but he didn’t lent protests such as marches put it into practice until the and boycotts. Montgomery bus boycott. To King, nonviolence had six AGAPE principles, according to the Agape is a term largely found Stanford University encyclope- in Christian belief that means a dia. First, that evil can be resist- love that spontaneous, unmoti- ed without violence. Second, vated, groundless and creative. that through nonviolence, the The term is at the heart of protester seeks to win the King’s belief in a knowable God friendship and understanding and that love and nonviolence of the opponent, not humiliate could fix America’s racial prob- him. Thirdly, that evil, not the lems, says the King people perpetrating the evil, be Encyclopedia maintained by opposed. Fourth, that people Stanford University’s The committed to nonviolence Martin Luther King Jr. Research must be willing to suffer with- and Education Institute. out retribution and suffering “At the center of nonviolence can be redemptive. Fifth, that stands the principle of love,” nonviolence avoids both physi- King said. “When we rise to cal violence and the “internal love on the agape level, we love violence of the spirit,” meaning men not because we like them, the protester refuses to shoot not because their attitudes and his opponent but also refuses ways appeal to us, but we love to hate him. Lastly, the protest- them because God loves them. er must believe in the future Here we rise to the position of and be convinced that the uni- loving the person who does the verse is on the side of justice. “At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love.” — Martin Luther King Jr. NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. | REMEMBERING THE MAN

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE The MLK Memorial ising 30 feet above the Tidal Basin in Washington D.C. is a granite statue of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. R that memorializes the man and his role in the American civil rights movement. Dedicated in 2011, the park sits at 1964 Independence Ave., S.W., with the address memorializing the passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964.

THE DESIGN emerging from a Mountain of choose the material, a shrimp CONTROVERSY for peace. I was a drum major Congress authorized King’s Despair. Each part of the mon- pink granite, and to generate The memorial originally for righteousness. And all of fraternity, , to ument incorporates scrape the final likeness. More than included a paraphrased quote the other shallow things will establish a memorial in the marks to symbolize struggle 150 granite blocks were sent to from King’s 1968 drum major not matter.” nation’s capitol in 1996. ROMA and movement. Lei’s Changsha, China, studio, sermon. It said, “I was a drum Eminent poet and author Design Group’s plan won an where he assembled and major for justice, peace and Maya Angelou said the para- international competition with THE SCULPTURE sculpted 80 percent of the righteousness.” The original phrase made King “look like a design that paid homage to a Chinese Master Lei Yixin work. The statue was then quote from the sermon, which an arrogant twit,” and the line from King’s “I Have a became the official sculptor of shipped back stateside, and Lei talked about the danger of the phrase seemed to be at odds Dream” speech: “With this the monument in 2007. completed it onsite. personal ego and asked the with the sermon’s message of faith, we will be able to hew According to the National The quotes engraved on the congregation to serve others, selflessness. In 2012, Secretary out of the mountain of despair Parks Service, Lei filled his stu- memorial were done over read, “If you want to say that I of the Interior Ken Salazar a stone of hope.: dio with photographs of King. more than two years by Nick was a drum major, say that I decided to remove the quote, The design depicts King’s He worked with the founda- Benson, a third generation was a drum major for justice. and Lei returned in 2013 to image, the Stone of Hope, tion and the King family to stone carver. Say that I was a drum major modify the memorial.