History of Martin Luther King, Jr.: His Life, Dream, and Legacy
Martin Luther King, Jr. Image: USA Today
HISTORY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Born on January 15, 1929, we celebrate a holiday in honor of a man who was not a president, an explorer, or a saint. Instead, he was a Baptist minister and an American leader of the 1960s civil rights movement, named after the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, after his father was inspired to change their name following a trip to the Reformer’s Wittenberg.
Though President Carter posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977, it was not until 1986 that a federal holiday was established on the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The only other American federal holidays that honored individuals were for Jesus, President Washington, and Christopher Columbus.
Martin Luther King Jr as Pastor
Though King earned a doctorate, he was also an ordained minister, the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Baptist ministers. From his biblical roots came many of the metaphors of his talks, the text of his presentations, and the cadence of his speech.
He served as a minister in Alabama in 1954, where he later led the 382-day boycott against segregation on buses. He was arrested, his house was bombed, and he suffered personal abuse during this time.
Martin Luther King Jr as Activist
King in Washington, D.C. Image: History.com
His involvement in the American Civil Rights Movement gave him his greatest visibility. In 1957, he began nonviolent civil disobedience, similar to that practiced by Gandhi in India. Marches and protests were effective means of accomplishing many of his goals.
This culminated in 1963 with the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” and his most famous speech, “I Have a Dream,” delivered at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
The following year, in 1964, he received the Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest recipient. Though initially successful in the South, King also brought his movement to the North, specifically to Chicago, in 1966, from which grew equal opportunity programs.
Martin Luther King Jr as Speaker
King “Beyond Vietnam,” Riverside Church, NY. Image: ABC7 News
In 1967, King delivered a comprehensive statement against the Vietnam War in his speech in New York City’s Riverside Church entitled “Beyond Vietnam.”
Many activists and newspapers criticized this, though he argued that he was not merging the civil rights and peace movements.
Martin Luther King Jr at U.C. Berkeley
Sproul Plaza, University of California, Berkeley, May 17, 1967. Image: The Guardian
Even so, he continued to speak out against the Vietnam War. On May 17, 1967, a Spring day of 76 degrees, just a month before the Summer of Love, he spoke in Sproul Plaza at the University of California at Berkeley, the school I would later attend.
The Interfraternity Council had invited him to speak. While it did not get much press coverage, even the local San Francisco Chronicle only gave it a few paragraphs on Page 8, there were 7,000 people present. It was his last large-scale public address in the Bay Area.
Berkeley: Sproul Plaza and the Student Union. Image: SFGate
Students sat in trees, on roofs, and on balconies to hear his speech. There were placards encouraging King to run for President the following year with running mate Spock. That’s Dr. Benjamin Spock, not Mr. Spock.
He told students:
“You, in a real sense, have been the conscience of the academic community and our nation.“
In 1968, King gave a prescient speech called “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” in which he said about God:
“He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain! And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And so I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the Glory of the coming of the Lord! “
Lorraine Motel, Memphis. Image: NBC News
The next day, on April 4, 1968, King was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
The motel has since been converted into the National Civil Rights Museum, and his room has a wreath placed before it.
Nationwide riots followed his assassination until five days later, when President Lyndon Johnson declared a national day of mourning for King. Classes at Berkeley were suspended. Three hundred thousand people attended his funeral.
Martin Luther King’s motel room today, Memphis. Author’s photo
Martin Luther King Jr’s Legacy
Since his death, King has become a symbol of protest in pursuit of racial justice, as he said in his seminal speech, “I Have a Dream,” calling for majestic spiritual “soul force” rather than physical force.
As I write this from Colorado Springs amidst snow on the ground, I am reminded of his charge at the end of that same speech:
“…from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado… let freedom ring.“
Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com
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I forgot about his speech at Cal. We were there last night for a basketball game. Cal’s team includes a student from Mexico and a Sudanese athlete who left during the turmoil in his country as an infant. – love our Berkeley – it is wonderful to think that Dr. King was on our campus.
Jeni,
How exciting. Thanks for sharing that.
-Bill
Outstanding post again, Bill. Good job.
Very interesting,I have learned more about this history..Thanks
i like this
I like and I’m happy to know more information about martin luther king, I’m a young boy from DAR ES SALAAM -TANZANIA. Thanks for prepared this…………….
This website was… how do I say it? Relevant!!
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you!
I think he was a saint. In both protestant and catholic sense of that word.
A very interesting “history”, Bill. I don’t know if you have ever seen Richard John Neuhaus’s article about him, which you might like. http://www.firstthings.com/article/2002/10/remembering-martin-luther-king-jr
I wrote a short bio on King in 2006, which touches on a few of the same points you mention, and some others. I don’t think I ever knew about his words at Berkeley. Glad you mentioned that. http://blog-by-the-sea.typepad.com/blog_bythesea/2006/03/about_dr_martin.html
The article by Richard John Neuhaus is very insightful and addresses the issues of those days. Your article is much more thorough than mine. I resisted for years writing an article on this, protesting to my readers that it’s not “history.” I came to the conclusion that just because it happened during my life, does not mean it’s not history to those who are younger.
When I started at Berkeley 4 years after MLK spoke there, he was honored on campus, but in the ensuing years his memory has become much more venerated: the Cal Student Union has been renamed, as well as Grove Street.