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Profiles in Black History
by Joanne Spataro
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• The 1960's

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most influential leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15,1929 to Reverend and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Sr.. King skipped eleventh and twelfth grades, and entered Morehouse College at age fifteen

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In 1954, King became the minister of the Dexter Avenue Church in Montgomery, Alabama. There a black bus passenger named Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man.

Outraged blacks formed a secret group called the Montgomery Improvement Association, and elected King chairman. They protested the segregated bus system for over a year (1955-1956). The boycott was very effective, and the buses became desegregated soon after.

Dr. King believed in non-violent protests, and received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his amazing efforts. But in Memphis, 1968, he was assassinated outside of a motel. Through his powerful speeches and prevailing stands on black civil rights, King was the driving force in the desegregation of America.

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Martin Luther King & Rosa Parks

Learn more about how Martin Luther King & Rosa Parks emerged on the national scene from a wonderful excerpt from The American Century from Harold Evans who writes, "...late on the afternoon of December 1, 1955, a simple seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man because she was too tired, and unknowingly sparked the historic confrontation of the Montgomery bus boycott. The real story is more complex – and more inspiring." Find out more about these pivotal events in the hsitory of the Civil Right movement.

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