Timeline: Martin Luther King, Jr.

in Atlanta, GA as Michael King, after his father. Later, his father had the inspiration to change his name to Martin Luther, to honor the reformer from 15th and 16th century. His mother was Alberta Christine Williams-King and he had two siblings: an older sister Christine and a younger brother A.D.

As a child who grew up in a very tight knit neighborhood, I could not even begin to imagine what kind of betrayal he felt. This is the first event in his life where King, Jr. had to face the harsh reality of racism. It’s sad that, as a child, he had to try and understand the blind hate that most of the whites in the South had had at that time.

This introduces him to the doctrine of personal immortality, which becomes one of the things he believes the most in. Relating back to my childhood again, my grandmother was a huge part of my childhood and she died when I was about the same age and I can relate to losing such a big part of my childhood and being lost and confused about it.

Ironically, this coincided with the angriest moment of his life: on the way back, he and his classmates had to give up their seats, on a ninety-mile ride back to Atlanta, because white passengers had gotten on the bus. Although these experiences with racism could have made him bitter towards white, I think they were important because they forced King, Jr. to experience and understand racism, making his movement later a much more personal one.

Laughably, he was considered an underachiever, was more interested in girls than anything, and was more one to go out and dance than stay in and study. If it had not been for Dr. Mays and Dr. George Kelsey, King, Jr. probably would have pursued a career in law or medicine. But his faith in religion, which had been weak and fading in the beginning of college, was restored and stronger than ever.  Following that motive, he joined the ministry at Ebenezer Church with his father in February 25, 1948 .It is odd to think that if he hadn’t met those two men, the world might not have had Dr. King as a Civil Rights leader.

Here, was considered an overachiever, and excelled as a student. The biggest impact of Crozer was the introduction of the methods Gandhi used to win independence for India. Spring 1950 King listened to Dr. Mordecai Johnson’s lecture on the peaceful warrior and was immediately moved by it. He went and bought books to fully understand Gandhi and his philosophy. This is the point, I believe, that most of King, Jr.’s beliefs started to form as well as where he develops the determination to fight the system of segregation with love. 

Here, he studied philosophy and theology under his two friends and advisors Edgar S. Brightman and L. Harold DeWolf. This was a spiritual refinement for King, Jr. and place where he solidified religious convictions. Actually, it is argued that he plagiarized parts of his doctoral thesis, but he received his PhD nonetheless. 

through a mutual friend and they hit it off immediately; they were married June 18, 1953 by Martin Luther King, Jr.’s father, King Sr. As a wife, Coretta was a partner and a supporter in King, Jr.’s movement. She always kept composure and was just as passionate in the movement and, even in the face of danger, stayed right by his side as much as she could. I honestly think that without Coretta, Martin Luther King, Jr. would not have been able to keep half the composure he did throughout the movement.

This becomes the headquarters for most of the movements that took place in Montgomery. In becoming the headquarters for the movements, it reflects how church in the black communities always served as a place for a place for community action as well as spiritual worship.