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114-523: The project was spearheaded by Martin Luther King Jr. 's youngest son, Dexter Scott King , who is credited as the song's executive producer. "King Holiday" was produced by Phillip Jones and Kurtis Blow . The song features: King Dream Chorus (vocalists) Holiday Crew (rappers) Martin Luther King Jr. Campaigns Death and memorial Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr. ; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)

228-724: A Bachelor of Arts in sociology in 1948, aged nineteen. King enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania , and took several courses at the University of Pennsylvania . At Crozer, King was elected president of the student body. At Penn, King took courses with William Fontaine , Penn's first African-American professor, and Elizabeth F. Flower , a professor of philosophy. King's father supported his decision to continue his education and made arrangements for King to work with J. Pius Barbour ,

342-415: A Children's Crusade . The Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene "Bull" Connor , used high-pressure water jets and police dogs against protesters, including children. Footage of the police response was broadcast on national television news, shocking many white Americans and consolidating black Americans behind the movement. Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of

456-684: A civil rights march to the city hall in Atlanta, to protest voting rights discrimination. Martin Jr. later remarked that Martin Sr. was "a real father" to him. Martin King Jr. memorized hymns and Bible verses by the time he was five years old. Beginning at six years old, he attended church events with his mother and sang hymns while she played piano. His favorite hymn was "I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus"; his singing moved attendees. King later became

570-405: A B-plus average. The high school was the only one in the city for African-American students. Martin Jr. was brought up in a Baptist home; as he entered adolescence he began to question the literalist teachings preached at his father's church. At the age of 13, he denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus during Sunday school . Martin Jr. said that he found himself unable to identify with

684-463: A church filled with white congregants. King wrote to his parents about the lack of segregation, relaying how he was amazed they could go to "one of the finest restaurants in Hartford" and that "Negroes and whites go to the same church". He played freshman football there. The summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, the 18-year-old King chose to enter the ministry . He would later credit

798-521: A church in the South. King tearfully told a friend that he could not endure his mother's pain over the marriage and broke the relationship off six months later. One friend was quoted as saying, "He never recovered." Other friends, including Harry Belafonte , said Betty had been "the love of King's life." King graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity in 1951. He applied to the University of Edinburgh for

912-463: A cover up. Eidson was then brought on camera and refused to shake Pepper's hand. Eidson brought a $ 15 million lawsuit against Pepper's publisher which was later settled for an undisclosed amount. Mark Lane , who was famous for JFK assassination conspiracy theories , was Ray's lawyer for a time. He alleged that Ray was an innocent pawn in a government plot. Lane wrote Murder In Memphis with Dick Gregory (previously titled Code Name Zorro , after

1026-788: A doctorate in the School of Divinity but ultimately chose Boston instead. In 1951, King began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University , and worked as an assistant minister at Boston's historic Twelfth Baptist Church with William Hunter Hester. Hester was an old friend of King's father and was an important influence on King. In Boston, King befriended a small cadre of local ministers his age, and sometimes guest pastored at their churches, including Michael E. Haynes , associate pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury. The young men often held bull sessions in their apartments, discussing theology, sermon style, and social issues. At

1140-436: A family friend and Crozer alumnus who pastored at Calvary Baptist Church in nearby Chester, Pennsylvania . King became known as one of the "Sons of Calvary", an honor he shared with William Augustus Jones Jr. and Samuel D. Proctor , who both went on to become well-known preachers. King reproved another student for keeping beer in his room once, saying they shared responsibility as African Americans to bear "the burdens of

1254-538: A few days after his plea, Ray recanted his confession and claimed he was innocent. In 1998, Ray died in prison of complications due to a chronic hepatitis C infection. Ray's cremated remains were distributed in Ireland because he did not want his final resting place to be in the United States due to "the way the government [had] treated him". Ray's claims of innocence attracted William Pepper , who had been

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1368-577: A friend from Atlanta named Mary Powell, a student at the New England Conservatory of Music , if she knew any nice Southern girls. Powell spoke to fellow student Coretta Scott ; Scott was not interested in dating preachers but eventually agreed to allow King to telephone her based on Powell's description and vouching. On their first call, King told Scott, "I am like Napoleon at Waterloo before your charms," to which she replied, "You haven't even met me." King married Scott on June 18, 1953, on

1482-490: A friend of King and would spend much of his later life fighting for Ray's release. The SCLC has applauded Pepper for his "unceasing commitment in the pursuit of justice". Pepper's appeals to higher courts, and even the Supreme Court, failed. According to Pepper, "It looked like we were at the end of the road and then I came up with an idea, 'Well, look, why don't we try to have a real trial on television?" A mock trial

1596-635: A group of other Morehouse College students to work in Simsbury, Connecticut , at the tobacco farm of Cullman Brothers Tobacco. This was King's first trip into the integrated north. In a June 1944 letter to his father King wrote about the differences that struck him: "On our way here we saw some things I had never anticipated to see. After we passed Washington there was no discrimination at all. The white people here are very nice. We go to any place we want to and sit anywhere we want to." The farm had partnered with Morehouse College to allot their wages towards

1710-600: A gunrunner with a blond Cuban handler named "Raoul". Ray stated that Raoul directed him to purchase the rifle used in the assassination and to stay at the Lorraine Hotel. On the afternoon of April 4, Ray checked into a boarding house in Memphis, with a bar called Jim's Grill on the first floor. He paid $ 8.50 for a week's stay. The rear of the boardinghouse faced the Lorraine Motel across Mulberry Street. Ray

1824-570: A high school education, and enrolled in Morehouse College to study for entry to the ministry. Michael Sr. and Alberta began dating in 1920, and married on November 25, 1926. Until Jennie's death in 1941, their home was on the second floor of Alberta's parents' Victorian house , where King was born. Michael Jr. had an older sister, Christine King Farris , and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel "A. D." King . Shortly after marrying Alberta, Michael King Sr. became assistant pastor of

1938-472: A hood over his head." The next day, Memphis public work employees removed the bushes, destroying the crime scene. James Earl Ray was born into poverty in 1928 outside St. Louis. He served in West Germany after World War II, before he was dishonorably discharged. He traveled to Los Angeles where he robbed a cafe and was sentenced to 90 days. In 1955, after a series of small bungled crimes, from robbing

2052-714: A local motel under an assumed name. As a police car arrived on the radio, he heard of King's assassination. Within the next few days, Redditt heard no more about the alleged threats. Two Black firemen there were also given the day off. According to the FBI, this station had an "excellent vantage point" of the Lorraine Motel. The MPD also infiltrated the Invaders, a local Black militant group which often provided protection for King. The single informant began surveilling in February 1968, just two months before King's assassination. The informant

2166-593: A member of his church choir dressed as a slave for the all-white audience at the Atlanta premiere of the film Gone with the Wind . In September 1940, at the age of 11, King was enrolled at the Atlanta University Laboratory School for the seventh grade . While there, King took violin and piano lessons and showed keen interest in history and English classes. On May 18, 1941, when King had sneaked away from studying at home to watch

2280-404: A member of the junior choir in his church. He enjoyed opera, and played the piano. King garnered a large vocabulary from reading dictionaries. He got into physical altercations with boys in his neighborhood, but oftentimes used his knowledge of words to stop or avoid fights. King showed a lack of interest in grammar and spelling, a trait that persisted throughout his life. In 1939, King sang as

2394-470: A memo, Hoover said that King was "a tom cat with obsessive degenerate sexual urges". FBI documents claimed, regarding an attendant at one of King's conferences, "One Negro minister in attendance later expressed his disgust with the behind-the scene drinking, fornication, and homosexuality." The document also alleged: "Several Negro and white prostitute[s] were brought in from the Miami area. An all-night sex orgy

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2508-611: A parade, he was informed that something had happened to his maternal grandmother. After returning home, he learned she had a heart attack and died while being transported to a hospital. He took her death very hard and believed that his deception in going to see the parade may have been responsible for God taking her. King jumped out of a second-story window at his home but again survived. His father instructed him that Martin Jr. should not blame himself and that she had been called home to God as part of God's plan. Martin Jr. struggled with this. Shortly thereafter, Martin Sr. decided to move

2622-564: A police officer who referred to Martin Sr. as "boy", Martin Sr. responded sharply that Martin Jr. was a boy but he was a man. When Martin Jr's father took him into a shoe store in downtown Atlanta, the clerk told them they needed to sit in the back. Martin Sr. refused asserting "we'll either buy shoes sitting here or we won't buy any shoes at all", before leaving the store with Martin Jr. He told Martin Jr. afterward, "I don't care how long I have to live with this system, I will never accept it." In 1936, Martin Sr. led hundreds of African Americans in

2736-451: A second-story window, but rose from the ground after hearing that she was alive. Martin King Jr. became friends with a white boy whose father owned a business across the street from his home. In September 1935, when the boys were about six years old, they started school. King had to attend a school for black children, Yonge Street Elementary School, while his playmate went to a separate school for white children only. Soon afterwards,

2850-473: A situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation." The campaign's early volunteers did not succeed in shutting down the city, or in drawing media attention to the police's actions. Over the concerns of an uncertain King, SCLC strategist James Bevel changed the course of the campaign by recruiting children and young adults to join the demonstrations. Newsweek called this strategy

2964-611: A taxi-driver for 11 dollars to robbing a post office, he was sentenced to 45 months at the Federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas . He was paroled in 1959. But on October 10, 1959, Ray and James Owens, another ex-convict, robbed a Kroger grocery store in St. Louis. Ray was given a 20-year sentence at Missouri State Penitentiary . On April 23, 1967, Ray escaped from the prison in a bakery delivery truck. Ray claimed that he then became

3078-452: A time when both parties were courting the support of Southern Whites and their political leadership including Governor Vandiver. Nixon, with whom King had a closer relationship before, declined to make a statement despite a personal visit from Jackie Robinson requesting his intervention. Nixon's opponent John F. Kennedy called the governor (a Democrat) directly, enlisted his brother Robert to exert more pressure on state authorities, and, at

3192-420: A unanimous verdict that King was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy involving the U.S. government, a person named Raoul, among others. After the verdict, Coretta King said: "There is abundant evidence of a major, high-level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband." The jury found the mafia and various local, state, and federal government agencies were "deeply involved in the assassination. ... Mr. Ray

3306-522: A unanimous verdict: that King was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. They found Jowers responsible, and also found that "governmental agencies" were among the conspirators. The King family was granted the $ 100 they requested in damages. The King family saw it as vindication. King's son, Dexter, said "This is the period at the end of the sentence. So please, after today, we don't want questions like, 'Do you believe James Earl Ray killed your father?' I've been hearing that all my life. No, I don't, and this

3420-606: Is abundant evidence of a major high-level conspiracy ... The Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband ... Mr Ray was set up to take the blame." Many who worked with King also believe in the likelihood of a conspiracy. "I think there was a major conspiracy to remove Doctor King from the American scene," said the Democratic Representative John Lewis , "I don't know what happened, but

3534-503: Is approaching" and that he was "done". Despite popular belief that it was intended to convince King to commit suicide, it remains unclear what the intention of a letter which the FBI mailed to King shortly before he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize was, with the full letter, which was made public in 2014, suggesting that the FBI preferred "older leaders" in the civil right movement such as Roy Wilkins . Upset over King's march,

King Holiday - Misplaced Pages Continue

3648-404: Is at the mercy of the meanest white man." King was selected as the winner of the contest. On the ride home to Atlanta by bus, he and his teacher were ordered by the driver to stand so that white passengers could sit. The driver of the bus called King a "black son-of-a-bitch". King initially refused but complied after his teacher told him that he would be breaking the law if he did not. As all

3762-495: Is the end of it." Dexter further emphasized that "the shooter was the Memphis Police Department Officer, Lt. Earl Clark". His wife Coretta King said after the verdict, "There is abundant evidence of a major, high-level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband." The jury found that the mafia and various government agencies "were deeply involved in the assassination. ... Mr. Ray was set up to take

3876-608: The ABC News program Prime Time Live . He claimed that he was paid $ 100,000 by alleged local mobster Frank Liberto to help organize King's assassination. Jowers ran a coffee shop on the first floor of the rooming house from which King was allegedly shot by Ray. The backdoor of his shop led to the bushes which were removed by the MPD. Jowers had remained silent for twenty-five years after King's assassination, but he only produced his confession after Ray's HBO mock trial. He claimed that he

3990-503: The Atlanta sit-ins from March 1960 onwards. In August the movement asked King to participate in a mass October sit-in, timed to highlight how 1960's Presidential election campaigns had ignored civil rights. The coordinated day of action took place on October 19. King participated in a sit-in at the restaurant inside Rich's , Atlanta's largest department store, and was among the many arrested that day. The authorities released everyone over

4104-460: The Bible as instructed by their father. After dinners, Martin Jr.'s grandmother Jennie, whom he affectionately referred to as "Mama", told lively stories from the Bible . Martin Jr.'s father regularly used whippings to discipline his children, sometimes having them whip each other. Martin Sr. later remarked, "[Martin Jr.] was the most peculiar child whenever you whipped him. He'd stand there, and

4218-636: The Central Intelligence Agency 's name for King) about the assassination of King, in which he alleged a conspiracy and government coverup. Lane represented James Earl Ray , King's alleged assassin, before the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) inquiry in 1978. The HSCA said of Lane in its report, "Many of the allegations of conspiracy that the committee investigated were first raised by Mark Lane". Lane wrote an audio docu-drama "Trial of James Earl Ray" that

4332-589: The City of Memphis filed a formal complaint against King and the SCLC. When Dr. King returned to Memphis on April 3, 1968, he was put under surveillance by the MPD. He was followed at the airport by two Black plain-clothes cops, one of which was Detective Edward E. Redditt. At the same time, the Memphis police also assigned four men to protect King. King's entourage told the police that they had not requested their help. When

4446-691: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act . The SCLC used tactics of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent. On September 20, 1958, King was signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in Blumstein's department store in Harlem when Izola Curry —a mentally ill black woman who thought that King

4560-665: The Missouri State Penitentiary , was convicted of the assassination, though the King family believes he was a scapegoat ; the assassination remains the subject of conspiracy theories . King's death was followed by national mourning , as well as anger leading to riots in many U.S. cities . King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2003. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

4674-590: The Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In his final years, he expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War . In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign , when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee . James Earl Ray , a fugitive from

King Holiday - Misplaced Pages Continue

4788-997: The Reformation leader Martin Luther . In reaction to the rise of Nazism , the BWA made a resolution saying, "This Congress deplores and condemns as a violation of the law of God the Heavenly Father , all racial animosity, and every form of oppression or unfair discrimination toward the Jews, toward colored people, or toward subject races in any part of the world." After returning home in August 1934, Michael Sr. changed his name to Martin Luther King Sr. and his five-year-old son's name to Martin Luther King Jr. At his childhood home, Martin King Jr. and his two siblings read aloud

4902-404: The entrance examination . As World War II was underway many black college students had been enlisted, so the university aimed to increase their enrollment by allowing juniors to apply. In 1944, aged 15, King passed the examination and was enrolled at the university that autumn. In the summer before King started at Morehouse, he boarded a train with his friend—Emmett "Weasel" Proctor—and

5016-617: The right to vote , desegregation , labor rights , and other civil rights . He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Georgia , and helped organize some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama . King was one of

5130-403: The wrongful death lawsuit , "King family vs. Loyd Jowers and other unknown co-conspirators". During the four-week trial, Pepper brought forward over 70 witnesses and thousands of documents. Jowers testified that Ray was only a scapegoat and that Memphis police officer Earl Clark actually fired the fatal shots. The mixed-race jury that heard the case took only one hour of deliberations to reach

5244-473: The 11th hour, I've always been a spiritual person and I believe in Providence." King's daughter Bernice King has said, "It pains my heart that James Earl Ray had to spend his life in prison paying for things he didn't do." She has also said, "I'm certainly clear that there has been a conspiracy, from the government down to the mafia." King's wife, Coretta Scott King told a press conference in 1999: "There

5358-510: The Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement, the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC . After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations. In April 1963,

5472-662: The Ebenezer church. Senior pastor Williams died in the spring of 1931 and that fall Michael Sr. took the role. With support from his wife, he raised attendance from six hundred to several thousand. In 1934, the church sent King Sr. on a multinational trip; one of the stops on the trip was Berlin for the Congress of the Baptist World Alliance [BWA]). He also visited sites in Germany that are associated with

5586-413: The FBI used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years, as part of its COINTELPRO program, in attempts to force King out of his leadership position. King believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as Jim Crow laws would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of

5700-484: The Gandhi Society produced a document that called on President Kennedy to issue an executive order to deliver a blow for civil rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation . Kennedy did not execute the order. The FBI , under written directive from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy , began tapping King's telephone line in the fall of 1963. Kennedy was concerned that public allegations of communists in

5814-568: The Negro in the deep South". After King's death, the FBI led the investigation into the assassination. On November 1, 1971, former head of FBI Intelligence Operations William C. Sullivan testified before the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities. He stated that in the "war" against King "no holds were barred". An internal FBI document expressed concern that this might raise

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5928-536: The Negro race". For a time, he was interested in Walter Rauschenbusch 's "social gospel". In his third year at Crozer, King became romantically involved with the white daughter of an immigrant German woman who worked in the cafeteria. King planned to marry her, but friends, as well as King's father, advised against it, saying that an interracial marriage would provoke animosity from both blacks and whites, potentially damaging his chances of ever pastoring

6042-485: The SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in Birmingham, Alabama . The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics, developed in part by Wyatt Tee Walker . Black people in Birmingham, organizing with the SCLC, occupied public spaces with marches and sit-ins , openly violating laws that they considered unjust. King's intent was to provoke mass arrests and "create

6156-424: The SCLC in the libel case Abernathy et al. v. Sullivan ; the case was litigated about the newspaper advertisement " Heed Their Rising Voices ". Wachtel founded a tax-exempt fund to cover the suit's expenses and assist the nonviolent civil rights movement through a more effective means of fundraising. King served as honorary president of this organization, named the "Gandhi Society for Human Rights". In 1962, King and

6270-404: The SCLC would derail the administration's civil rights initiatives. He warned King to discontinue these associations and later felt compelled to issue the written directive that authorized the FBI to wiretap King and other SCLC leaders. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover feared the civil rights movement and investigated the allegations of communist infiltration. When no evidence emerged to support this,

6384-431: The SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. But the campaign was a success: Connor lost his job, the "Jim Crow" signs came down, and public places became more open to blacks. King's reputation improved immensely. King was arrested and jailed early in the campaign—his 13th arrest out of 29. From his cell, he composed

6498-445: The accepted explanations for Ray as a lone assassin," the “predominant motive lay in an expectation of monetary gain” and that "The committee concluded that there was a likelihood of conspiracy in the assassination of Dr King." They asserted that it was most likely a conspiracy by southern white supremacist groups, and that Ray was only acting due to a bounty on King's head. They also noted that “No federal, state or local government agency

6612-878: The age of 25 in 1954, King was called as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama . King received his PhD on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation (initially supervised by Edgar S. Brightman and, upon the latter's death, by Lotan Harold DeWolf ) titled A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman . An academic inquiry in October 1991 concluded that portions of his doctoral dissertation had been plagiarized and he had acted improperly. However, "[d]espite its finding,

6726-576: The assassination. "I never saw those questions answered. I'm satisfied beyond a shadow of a doubt that James Earl Ray neither pulled the trigger nor plotted to kill Martin Luther King." The United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and King. In 1979, their final report concluded that "After examining Ray's behaviour, his character and his racial attitudes... The committee found it could not concur with any of

6840-478: The audience was hostile and frustrated. King then gave an impassioned speech calling participants to resist the "cancerous disease of disunity", helping to calm tensions. The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia , in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation in

6954-527: The belief that Jowers fabricated his story for financial reward. Gerald Posner , an investigative journalist who wrote the book Killing the Dream , in which he makes the case that Ray was the killer, said after the verdict: "It distresses me greatly that the legal system was used in such a callous and farcical manner in Memphis. If the King family wanted a rubber stamp of their own view of the facts, they got it." Robert Blakey also criticized Pepper's theories on

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7068-483: The blame." In 2000, Attorney General Janet Reno announced that, after re-examining the assassination, no evidence of a conspiracy could be found. The Department of Justice found numerous inconsistencies in Jowers' statements. It also concluded there was no proof Frank Liberto belonged to the mafia and that, in its opinion, the witnesses that supported Jowers were not credible or contradictory. Furthermore, it expressed

7182-413: The bus boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement. In 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy , Fred Shuttlesworth , Joseph Lowery , and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in

7296-600: The church's pastor, King became known for his oratorical preaching in Montgomery and the surrounding region. In March 1955, Claudette Colvin —a fifteen-year-old black schoolgirl in Montgomery—refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in violation of Jim Crow laws , local laws in the Southern United States that enforced racial segregation . Nine months later on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks

7410-476: The city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel." The following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left. King returned in July 1962 and

7524-525: The college's president, Baptist minister Benjamin Mays , with being his "spiritual mentor". King had concluded that the church offered the most assuring way to answer "an inner urge to serve humanity", and he made peace with the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a "rational" minister with sermons that were "a respectful force for ideas, even social protest." King graduated from Morehouse with

7638-566: The committee said that 'no thought should be given to the revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree,' an action that the panel said would serve no purpose." The committee found that the dissertation still "makes an intelligent contribution to scholarship." A letter is now attached to the copy of King's dissertation in the university library, noting that numerous passages were included without the appropriate quotations and citations of sources. Significant debate exists on how to interpret King's plagiarism. While studying at Boston University, he asked

7752-598: The confirmation of illegal surveillance of King by the FBI and the CIA , and the FBI's attempt to allegedly prompt King to commit suicide . In 1979, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) concluded that there was a likelihood of conspiracy in the assassination of King and that Ray may have served as a scapegoat. In 1999, a mixed-race jury at a Memphis civil suit reached

7866-501: The daily indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights supporters, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the civil rights movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s. King organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote , desegregation , labor rights , and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into law with

7980-806: The emotional displays from congregants who were frequent at his church; he doubted if he would ever attain personal satisfaction from religion. He later said of this point in his life, "doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly." In high school, Martin King Jr. became known for his public-speaking ability, with a voice that had grown into an orotund baritone . He joined the school's debate team. King continued to be most drawn to history and English , and chose English and sociology as his main subjects. King maintained an abundant vocabulary . However, he relied on his sister Christine to help him with spelling, while King assisted her with math. King also developed an interest in fashion, commonly wearing polished patent leather shoes and tweed suits, which gained him

8094-598: The family to a two-story brick home on a hill overlooking downtown Atlanta. As an adolescent, he initially felt resentment against whites due to the "racial humiliation" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure. In 1942, when King was 13, he became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal . In the same year, King skipped the ninth grade and enrolled in Booker T. Washington High School , where he maintained

8208-616: The lawn of her parents' house, in Heiberger, Alabama . They had four children: Yolanda King (1955–2007), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (1961–2024), and Bernice King (b. 1963). King limited Coretta's role in the civil rights movement, expecting her to be a housewife and mother. The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church was influential in the Montgomery African-American community. As

8322-724: The leaders of the 1963 March on Washington , where he delivered his " I Have a Dream " speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial , and helped organize two of the three Selma to Montgomery marches during the 1965 Selma voting rights movement. The civil rights movement achieved pivotal legislative gains in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 . There were several dramatic standoffs with segregationist authorities, who often responded violently. King

8436-568: The nation's top body of law enforcement, the FBI . J. Edgar Hoover , the Director of the FBI, pronounced him, "the most notorious liar in the country". King had been under FBI surveillance since the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956. They began wiretapping his phones in 1963. King expressed his anger towards the FBI in 1964, declaring that it was "completely ineffectual in resolving the continued mayhem and brutality inflicted upon

8550-452: The nearby Fire Station No. 2, the two Black detectives continued their surveillance of King. Shortly after midday, Detective Redditt received a threatening phone call from a woman, telling him that "he was doing the Black people wrong". Redditt and his associate were then told to return to the police station. Redditt was told that threats had been made on his life and that his family must stay at

8664-432: The negotiations failed and sit-ins and boycotts resumed for several months. On March 7, 1961, a group of Black elders including King notified student leaders that a deal had been reached: the city's lunch counters would desegregate in fall 1961, in conjunction with the court-mandated desegregation of schools. Many students were disappointed at the compromise. In a large meeting on March 10 at Warren Memorial Methodist Church,

8778-498: The next few days, except for King. Invoking his probationary plea deal, judge J. Oscar Mitchell sentenced King on October 25 to four months of hard labor. Before dawn the next day, King was transported to Georgia State Prison . The arrest and harsh sentence drew nationwide attention. Many feared for King's safety, as he started a prison sentence with people convicted of violent crimes, many of them White and hostile to his activism. Both Presidential candidates were asked to weigh in, at

8892-495: The nickname "Tweed" or "Tweedie" among his friends. He liked flirting with girls and dancing. His brother A.D. later remarked, "He kept flitting from chick to chick, and I decided I couldn't keep up with him. Especially since he was crazy about dances, and just about the best jitterbug in town." On April 13, 1944, in his junior year , King gave his first public speech during an oratorical contest . In his speech he stated, "black America still wears chains. The finest negro

9006-410: The now-famous " Letter from Birmingham Jail " that responds to calls to pursue legal channels for social change . The letter has been described as "one of the most important historical documents penned by a modern political prisoner ". King argues that the crisis of racism is too urgent, and the current system too entrenched: "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by

9120-605: The oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." He points out that the Boston Tea Party , a celebrated act of rebellion in the American colonies, was illegal civil disobedience, and that, conversely, "everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'." Walter Reuther , president of the United Auto Workers , arranged for $ 160,000 to bail out King and his fellow protestors. "I have almost reached

9234-574: The parents of the white boy stopped allowing King to play with their son, stating to him, "we are white, and you are colored". When King relayed this to his parents, they talked with him about the history of slavery and racism in America , which King would later say made him "determined to hate every white person". His parents instructed him that it was his Christian duty to love everyone. Martin King Jr. witnessed his father stand up against segregation and discrimination . Once, when stopped by

9348-418: The personal request of Sargent Shriver , called King's wife to offer his help. The pressure from Kennedy and others proved effective, and King was released two days later. King's father decided to openly endorse Kennedy's candidacy for the November 8 election which he narrowly won. After the October 19 sit-ins and following unrest, a 30-day truce was declared in Atlanta for desegregation negotiations. However,

9462-495: The police asked where King was staying, Reverend James Lawson replied, "We have not fully made up our minds." The police still followed King to the Lorraine Motel. The police protection remained near King until they were recalled to the police station at 5:05. One of the four men, Inspector Tines, later stated that this call-back was not planned and that he did not know why it happened. The MPD Chief Macdonald claimed to have no memory of this police protection or of any "call-back". At

9576-629: The regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set

9690-534: The request of the SCLC. In Atlanta, King served until his death as co-pastor with his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church . Georgia governor Ernest Vandiver expressed open hostility towards King's return. He claimed that "wherever M. L. King Jr., has been there has followed in his wake a wave of crimes", and vowed to keep King under surveillance. On May 4, 1960, King drove writer Lillian Smith to Emory University when police stopped them. King

9804-433: The seats were occupied, he and his teacher were forced to stand the rest of the way to Atlanta. Later King wrote of the incident: "That night will never leave my memory. It was the angriest I have ever been in my life." During King's junior year in high school, Morehouse College —an all-male historically black college that King's father and maternal grandfather had attended —began accepting high school juniors who passed

9918-486: The service of civil rights reform. The group was inspired by the crusades of evangelist Billy Graham , who befriended King, as well as the national organizing of the group In Friendship, founded by King allies Stanley Levison and Ella Baker . King led the SCLC until his death. The SCLC's 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was the first time King addressed a national audience. Harry Wachtel joined King's legal advisor Clarence B. Jones in defending four ministers of

10032-557: The situation became so tense that King's house was bombed. King was arrested for traveling 30 mph in a 25 mph zone and jailed, which overnight drew the attention of national media, and greatly increased King's public stature. The controversy ended when the United States District Court issued a ruling in Browder v. Gayle that prohibited racial segregation on Montgomery public buses. King's role in

10146-547: The suspicion of FBI involvement in the assassination. The FBI tried to paint King as a Communist. In 1962, Hoover told then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy that King was "a secret member of the Communist Party", which led Kennedy to approve wiretaps. Other FBI documents claimed, "King has been described within the Communist Party USA as a true, genuine Marxist-Leninist 'from the top of his head to

10260-420: The tears would run down, and he'd never cry." Once, when Martin Jr. witnessed his brother A.D. emotionally upset his sister Christine, he took a telephone and knocked A.D. unconscious with it. When Martin Jr. and his brother were playing at their home, A.D. slid from a banister and hit Jennie, causing her to fall unresponsive. Martin Jr. believing her dead, blamed himself and attempted suicide by jumping from

10374-463: The timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Martin Luther King Jr. assassination conspiracy theories Conspiracy theories about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. , a prominent leader of the civil rights movement , relate to different accounts of the incident that took place on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee . King

10488-656: The tips of his toes". As late as three weeks before King's killing, internal FBI documents attacked King for his "whole hearted" Communism and his "Marxist-Leninist line". After repeated claims of King's and the Civil Rights Movement's links to Communism, King declared that he was "sick and tired of people saying this movement has been infiltrated by Communists ... There are as many Communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida." The FBI had long attempted to discredit King's personal life. In

10602-563: The truth of what happened to Dr. King should be made available for history's sake." Andrew Young , the former U.N. ambassador and Atlanta mayor who was at the Lorraine Motel with King when he was assassinated, shares that sentiment: "I would not accept the fact that James Earl Ray pulled the trigger, and that's all that matters." James Lawson was a pastor in Memphis and one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s mentors. He began visiting Ray in prison in 1969. "There were things in Memphis that were suspicious and raised questions in my mind," he said regarding

10716-507: The university's tuition, housing, and fees. On weekdays King and the other students worked in the fields, picking tobacco from 7:00am to at least 5:00pm, enduring temperatures above 100  °F , to earn roughly USD$ 4 per day. On Friday evenings, the students visited downtown Simsbury to get milkshakes and watch movies, and on Saturdays they would travel to Hartford, Connecticut , to see theatre performances, shop and eat in restaurants. On Sundays they attended church services in Hartford, at

10830-452: The white-minority ruled Rhodesia . On March 10, 1969, Ray plead guilty to murdering King, received a 99-year prison sentence without trial. His plea saved him from the likelihood of the death penalty. During his short sentencing trial, Ray "leapt to his feet" when the prosecution and his defense lawyer, Percy Foreman , agreed that there was no conspiracy. Ray explained that his guilty plea did not necessarily mean others weren't involved. But

10944-405: Was a minister in rural Georgia , moved to Atlanta in 1893, and became pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in the following year. Williams married Jennie Celeste Parks. Michael Sr. was born to sharecroppers James Albert and Delia King of Stockbridge, Georgia ; he was of African- Irish descent. As an adolescent, Michael Sr. left his parents' farm and walked to Atlanta, where he attained

11058-485: Was an American Baptist minister, activist , and political philosopher who was one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. King advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and nonviolent civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination . A black church leader, King participated in and led marches for

11172-429: Was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus. The two incidents led to the Montgomery bus boycott, which was urged and planned by Edgar Nixon and led by King. The other ministers asked him to take a leadership role because his relative newness to community leadership made it easier for him to speak out. King was hesitant but decided to do so if no one else wanted it. The boycott lasted for 385 days, and

11286-557: Was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel , the day after giving his final speech " I've Been to the Mountaintop ". Claims soon arose over suspect aspects of King's assassination and the controversial role of the assassin, James Earl Ray . Although his guilty plea eliminated the possibility of a trial before a jury, within days, Ray had recanted and claimed his confession was forced. Suspicions were further raised by

11400-509: Was broadcast on HBO. The television jury found Ray not guilty. In June 1997, Pepper appeared on ABC's Turning Point . He discussed the theory from his book Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King Jr . This theory held that a hit team from the 20th Special Forces Group was to kill King if a police sharpshooter failed. This group was supposedly led by a man named Billy Eidson, whom Pepper claimed had since been killed in

11514-454: Was broadcast on KPFK on April 3, 1978, casting doubt on Ray's guilt. The FBI's original tests on the bullet that killed King and the .30-06 hunting rifle were inconclusive. In 1997, tests were run comparing 12 test bullets from the alleged murder rifle, and the bullet that killed MLK. According to an affidavit filed by James Earl Ray's attorneys, unique barrel markings could not be found on the killing bullet. King had long found enemies among

11628-502: Was cited for "driving without a license" because he had not yet been issued a Georgia license. King's Alabama license was still valid, and Georgia law did not mandate any time limit for issuing a local license. King paid a fine but was unaware that his lawyer agreed to a plea deal that included probation . Meanwhile, the Atlanta Student Movement had been acting to desegregate businesses and public spaces, organizing

11742-519: Was conspiring against her with communists—stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener, which nearly impinged on the aorta. King received first aid by police officers Al Howard and Philip Romano. King underwent emergency surgery by Aubre de Lambert Maynard , Emil Naclerio and John W. V. Cordice ; he remained hospitalized for several weeks. Curry was later found mentally incompetent to stand trial. In December 1959, after being based in Montgomery for five years, King announced his return to Atlanta at

11856-657: Was established as a holiday in cities and states throughout the United States beginning in 1971; the federal holiday was first observed in 1986. The Martin Luther King ;Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011. Michael King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta ; he was the second of three children born to Michael King Sr. and Alberta King ( née  Williams ). Alberta's father, Adam Daniel Williams,

11970-447: Was given the option of forty-five days in jail or a $ 178 fine (equivalent to $ 1,800 in 2023); he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail." It

12084-432: Was held with these prostitutes and some of the delegates." On one occasion, the FBI mailed alleged sex-tapes of King's adultery and a letter to King in an attempt to destroy his marriage. But his wife, Coretta Scott King, later remarked that, "I couldn't make much out of it, it was just a lot of mumbo jumbo." The letter accused King of being "sexually psychotic," and a "colossal fraud". The letter warned King that "your end

12198-400: Was identified from fingerprints on the gun he left behind. Regarding Ray's alleged gun, Martin Luther King III said, "That weapon was not the weapon. You're going to kill somebody and then drop the gun right there?" On April 24, Ray obtained a Canadian passport and purchased plane tickets from Toronto to London, where he was apprehended by the FBI on June 8. He was allegedly trying to reach

12312-514: Was involved in the assassination of Dr King.” The HSCA's Chief Counsel, Robert Blakey , stated that if the CIA or FBI had been involved, all incriminating documents were likely destroyed long before 1979. This same committee also found that there was a "high probability that at least two gunmen fired at the President," while reviewing the assassination of Kennedy. In 1993, Loyd Jowers appeared on

12426-459: Was jailed several times. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director J. Edgar Hoover considered King a radical and made him an object of the FBI's COINTELPRO from 1963 forward. FBI agents investigated him for possible communist ties, spied on his personal life, and secretly recorded him. In 1964, the FBI mailed King a threatening anonymous letter , which he interpreted as an attempt to make him commit suicide . On October 14, 1964 , King won

12540-500: Was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out. After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts. Though

12654-463: Was part of a larger conspiracy to assassinate King and frame Ray as a patsy. He claimed that "Raul", Memphis Police Officers, and the mafia had been involved. Jowers named Memphis Police Lieutenant Earl Clark as the shooter instead. In 1999, a civil suit brought by Coretta Scott King alleged that Jowers and others had conspired to assassinate King. The King Family turned to William Pepper, who had defended Ray in his HBO mock trial, to represent them in

12768-683: Was present in the motel courtyard when King was assassinated. Besides its own infiltration, the MPD was itself infiltrated by the FBI. The FBI had five paid informants within the Memphis Police Department. The King family has long been outspoken about their belief in a conspiracy and Ray's innocence. King's youngest son, Dexter , met with Ray in prison in 1997 where he said to Ray, "Well, as awkward as this may seem, I want you to know that I believe you and my family believes you, and we are going to do everything in our power to try and make sure that justice will prevail. And while it's at

12882-461: Was scheduled to perform that night at a planned event. King said: "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty." Soloman Jones was a volunteer who often drove King around town when he was in Memphis. After he heard the shot, he ran into the street. He related what he saw to the police that night, "I could see a person in the thicket on the west side of Mulberry with his back to me, looked like he had

12996-493: Was set up to take the blame." Martin Luther King Jr. arrived in Memphis, Tennessee to support a strike by black sanitation workers in April 1968. On April 4, one day after delivering his " I've Been to the Mountaintop " speech, King was assassinated on the balcony outside room 306 at the Lorraine Motel. At the time of the shooting, he was standing on the second floor balcony. King's last words were to musician Ben Branch, who

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