Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement from the mid-1950s until his death in 1968. His dedication to peacefully protesting for equality and civil rights has left a monumental impact on African American citizens in this country. 

This book will highlight important moments of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life so that you can better understand what he did for the Civil Rights Movement.

Hello! My name is Martin Luther King Jr. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. 

My dad is Martin Luther King Sr., a pastor, and my mom is Alberta Williams King, a former school teacher. 

I have 2 siblings. 

I graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1944 and started attending college, at the age of 15! 

I was ordained a minister at age 19 in 1948.

A couple of years later, in 1953, I married Coretta Scott and we moved to Montgomery, Alabama.  

We went on to have 4 children Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King, and Bernice Albertine King. 

In 1955, my friend Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus. 

I was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), making me the spokesperson for the boycott against buses and the segregation that occurred on them. 

I would later form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to achieve civil rights and fight segregation. 

The boycott ended when the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was illegal but my fight for equality did not stop there. 

I became an activist, pursuing equal rights and justice for the harm inflicted on the African American people in the South. 

I led many peaceful protests. Marching in the streets and participating in sit-ins are ways of protesting that do not involve fighting or violence. 

I became a co-pastor with my father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. I also traveled to India to learn about the teachings of Gandhi. 

I believe in peaceful protests, like the Freedom Walk in Detroit, sit-ins, supporting the Freedom Riders, and the March on Washington. 

I was jailed many times for my activism and I was even stabbed once!  

The March on Washington took place on August 28, 1963, and became the largest civil right demonstration in history.

I gave the I Have A Dream speech, which was a call for civil and economic rights and an end to racism by outlining the long history of racial injustice in America. 

“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”