Martin Luther King, Jr



Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King was a great man who worked for racial equality and civil rights in the United States of America. He was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Both his father and grandfather were Baptist pastors. His mother was a schoolteacher who taught him how to read before he went to school.

Young Martin was an excellent student in school; he skipped grades in both elementary school and high school . He enjoyed reading books, singing, riding a bicycle, and playing football and baseball. Martin entered Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, when he was only 15 years old.

Martin experienced racism early in life. In most public places, there were signs that said "Whites Only" to tell the black people they were not welcome. There were separate seats for whites and blacks on buses and trains. He decided to do to something to make the world a better and fairer place. After graduating from college and getting married to Coretta Scott, Dr. King became a minister in the Baptist Church and moved to Alabama.

During the 1950's, Dr. King became active in the movement for civil rights and racial equality. He participated in the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott with Rosa Parks and many other peaceful demonstrations that protested the unfair treatment of African-Americans. On August 28th 1963 250,000 people, black and white, marched to Washington to protest against discrimination. M.L.King gave a famous speech in which he said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin”.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee. To commemorate the life of this great leader, American people celebrate Martin Luther King Day each year on the third Monday in January, the month in which he was born.

Comprehension Questions

1. Where and when was ML King born?

2. Who was his father?

3. Where did King study?

4. What hobbies did he have?

5. What type of discrimination was there against the blacks?

6. When did he start fighting for Civil rights?

7. What happened in August 1963? Why?

8. What was ML King’s dream?

9. Why is 1964 an important year?

10. How did ML King die? How old was he?

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