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Photograph: Kurt Severin/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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King was born Michael Luther King in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 1929. He was one of three children of Martin Luther King, Sr, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Alberta (Williams) King, a former schoolteacher. When King turned six, he was renamed Martin.
King received his bachelor's degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, Atlanta. Thereafter he attended the Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, winning the Plafker Award and the J Lewis Crozer Fellowship as well. In 1953, King completed the coursework for his doctorate and was granted the degree two years later.
King returned south to become pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. It was here that King cut his teeth on what would become his unique brand of action. By mobilising the black community to boycott the city's bus lines, which were practising segregation, for 382 days, King electrified the black community across America. He overcame arrest and violent harassment, including the bombing of his home. Ultimately, the US Supreme Court declared segregation in buses unconstitutional.
An interesting fact of the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, was that one-fifth of the 250,000 people who attended the rally were white.
Also see: Track-II Diplomacy
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