Martin Luther King’s

Day
January 15, 1929
- an influential American
civil rights leader

- the only black American whose

birthday is a national holiday. It’s
celebrated on the 3rd Monday of
January each year

- well-known for his campaigns to

end racial segregation on public
transport and for racial equality in
the United States

- Martin Luther King’s Day is

combined with Civil Rights Day in
Arizona and New Hampshire,
Human Rights Day in Idaho and
other days in different states
 History: racial segregation in America
Before the Civil War (1861-1865), most black people in the USA
were slaves, with no rights

In 1868 black people got the right to vote, but in the Southern
states there was still segregation (separate schools, parks,
restaurants etc. for whites and blacks)

In 1954 segregation in schools became illegal, but it still existed in

public places – stores, parks, churches and transport. There
was a law, which said that black people had to stand and sit
only in certain sections of trains and buses

In 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, an Afro-American woman

named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a
white man and was arrested. Martin Luther King, the minister
of a Baptist church, was chosen to lead the protests.
 Martin Luther King’s Biography
Michael Luther King was born on January
15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, in a well-off
family of pastors.

King experienced racial prejudice early in

life. Segregation was both law and
custom in the South and other parts of
America

King’s birth home in Atlanta

King graduated from Morehouse – the all-black

college in Atlanta in 1948

He studied theology at Boston university where he

received a doctorate in 1955 and met his future
wife Coretta Scott

In 1955 he moved to Montgomery, Alabama and

became a pastor at the Baptist church
 Civil Rights Leader

 King advocated the

public bus boycott
which followed Rosa
Park’s arrest

 In 1956 the Supreme

Court banned the
racial segregation in
public transport

 Martin Luther King

led protests and
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife marches against
Coretta Scott King lead demonstrators on racism
the fourth day of their march from Selma
to Montgomery, Alabama.
 Influent Activist
King was arrested several times
during his lifetime. In 1960, he
joined black college students in
a sit-in at a segregated lunch
counter. Presidential candidate
John F. Kennedy interceded to
have King released from jail, an
action that is credited with
helping Kennedy to be elected
President.

In 1964, Congress passed the Civil

Rights Act, which outlawed racial
segregation in publicly-owned
facilities. Here, President Lyndon B.
Johnson shakes the hand of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. at the
signing of the landmark piece of
legislation.
 Great Speaker
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. waves to
supporters from the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington,
D.C. during the "March on
Washington.“, 1963

There, he delivered the "I Have a

Dream" speech, which boosted
public support for civil rights.

Quotes and Sayings:

- Laundry is the only thing that should be

separated by color.

- Never do anything against conscience even if

the state demands it.

- I have a dream that one day on the red hills of

Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons
of former slave owners will be able to sit down
together at the table of brotherhood.
 Nobel prize winner

Dr. Martin Luther King,

Jr. received the Nobel
Prize for Peace from
Gunnar Jahn, president
of the Nobel Prize
Committee, in Oslo on
December 10, 1964.

King was assassinated by

James Earl Ray
on April 4, 1968
 Quiz: How Much Do You Know about the Young
Martin Luther King, Jr.?
True False
 Martin Luther King was born in
Montgomery, Alabama √

 His father was pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist

Church in Atlanta √

 King was a high school dropout √

 He met his future wife Coretta while studying

in Boston √

 King’s first chuch was his father’s church in

Atlanta √

 Martin Luther King was not named Martin

√
at birth