"Black History"....dedicated to

Hank Aaron in 1934 was born on this day 5th of Febuary (age 69)

Dr. King’s speech at the March
on Washington in 1963, along with his acceptance speech
of the Nobel Peace Prize,
and his final sermon in Memphis are among his most,
famous utterances. The following excerpts reveal
the cogency, conviction and persuasion of
his powerful speaking style.

(From the speech “March on Washington”)
“I say to you today, my friends,
so even though we face the difficulties of today
and tomorrow, I still have a dream.
It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will
rise up and live out the true meaning
of its creed; ‘We hold these truths
to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal.’
I have a dream that one day on the red
hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves
and the sons of former slave-owners will
be able to sit down together at the
table of brotherhood. I have a dream that
one day, even the state of
Mississippi, a state sweltering with
the heat of injustice, sweltering with
the heat of oppression, will be transformed
into an oasis of freedom and justice.”
“I have a dream that my four children
will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color
of their skin, but by the content
of their character. I have a dream today¼I have a dream that
one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists,
with its governor having his lips dripping with
the words of interposition and nullification,
one day right there in Alabama,
little black boys and black girls
will be able to join hands with the
little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.”
“This hope is our hope.
This is the faith that I go
back to the south with. And with this faith,
we will be able to hew out of the mountain of
despair a stone of hope. With this faith we
will be able to work together,
to pray together, to struggle together,
to stand up for freedom together,
knowing that we will be free one day.”
“...And so let freedom ring,
from the prodigious hilltops
of New Hampshire. Let freedom
ring from the mighty mountains of New
York. Let freedom ring from
the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped
Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from
the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that. Let freedom ring
from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom
ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and mole
hill of Mississippi. From every
mountainside, let freedom ring¼
And when we allow freedom to ring –
when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet,
from every state and every city, we will be
able to speed up that day when all of God’s children,
black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles,
Protestants and Catholics, will be able
to join hands and sing in the words of the old
Negro spiritual: Free at last,
free at last. Thank God almighty,
we are free at last.”
(From the Acceptance Speech,
The Nobel Peace Prize, 1964)
“I accept this award today
with an abiding faith in America
and an audacious faith in the future of mankind.
I refuse to accept the idea that the ‘isness’
of man’s present nature makes him morally
incapable of reaching up for the eternal
‘oughtness’ that forever confronts him.
I refuse to accept the idea that
man is mere flotsam and jetsam
in the river of life unable to
influence the unfolding of events
which surround him. I refuse to
accept the view that mankind is
so tragically bound to the starless
midnight of racism and war that the bright
daybreak of peace and brotherhood can
never become a reality.”
“I refuse to accept the cynical notion
that nation after nation must spiral
down a militaristic stairway into the hell
of a thermonuclear destruction. I believe
that unarmed truth and unconditional
love will have the final world in reality.
This is why right temporarily defeated
is stronger that evil triumphant.”
(From the sermon
“I’ve Been To the Mountaintop,” April 3, 1968)
“...That’s the question before
you tonight. Not, ‘If I stop to help the
sanitation workers, what will happen to my job?’
‘Not, if I stop to help the sanitation workers,
what will happen to all of the hours that
I usually spend in my office everyday and
every week as a pastor?’ The question is not,
‘If I stop to help this man in need,
what will happen to me?’ The question is,
‘If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers,
what will happen to them?’

That’s the question.”
“Let us rise up tonight with
a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater
determination. And let us move on in these powerful days,
these days of challenge to make America
what it ought to be. We have an opportunity
to make America a better nation. And I want to
thank God once more for allowing me
to be here with you.”
“...And they were telling me,
now it doesn’t matter now. It really
doesn’t matter what happens now. I left Atlanta
this morning, and as we got started
on the plane, there were six
of us, the pilot said over the public address system.
‘We are sorry for the delay, but we have
Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane.
And to be sure that all of the bags
were checked, and to be sure that nothing would
be wrong on the plane, we had to check out
everything carefully. And we’ve had the plane
protected and guarded all night.”
“And then I got into Memphis.
And some began to say the threats,
or talk about the threats that were out.
What would happen to me from some
of our sick white brothers?”
“Well, I don’t know what will happen now.
We’ve got some difficult days ahead.
But it really doesn’t matter with me now,
because I’ve been to the mountaintop
and I don’t mind. Like anybody,
I would like to live a long life.
Longevity has its place. But I’m not
concerned about that now. I just want
to do God’s will, and 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 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.”
Speeches used by permission of
Intellectual Properties Management,
Atlanta, Georgia, as Manager
of The King Estate.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
was a vital figure of the modern era.
His lectures and dialogues stirred the concern and sparked the conscience
of a generation. The movements and marches

he led brought significant changes in the fabric of
American life through his courage
and selfless devotion.

This devotion
gave direction to thirteen years of civil rights activities.
His charismatic leadership
inspired men and women, young and old, in this
nation and around the world.
Dr. King’s concept of “somebodiness,”
which symbolized the celebration of human
worth and the conquest of subjugation,
gave black and poor people hope and
a sense of dignity.
His philosophy of nonviolent direct action,
and his strategies for rational
and non-destructive social change, galvanized the conscience of this nation

and reordered its priorities. His wisdom, his
words, his actions, his commitment, and his dream for a new way of life are
intertwined with the American experience.
"Birth and Family"
Martin Luther King, Jr. was born
at noon on Tuesday, January 15, 1929 at the family home, 501 Auburn Avenue, N.E.,
Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Charles Johnson was the attending physician.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was the first son and second child
born to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King.
Also born to the Kings were Christine, now Mrs. Isaac Farris, Sr.,
and the Reverend Alfred Daniel Williams King. The Reverend A.D. King is now deceased.
He married Coretta Scott, the younger

daughter of Obadiah and Bernice McMurry Scott
of Marion, Alabama, on June 18, 1953.
The marriage ceremony took place on
the lawn of the Scott’s home in Marion, Alabama. The Rev. King, Sr.
performed the service, with Mrs. Edythe Bagley,
the sister of Coretta Scott King
as maid of honor, and the Rev. A.D. King,
the brother of Martin Luther King, Jr., as best man.
Four children were born to Dr. and Mrs. King:
Yolanda Denise (November 17, 1955, Montgomery, Alabama)
Martin Luther III (October 23, 1957, Montgomery, Alabama)
Dexter Scott (January 30, 1961, Atlanta, Georgia)
Bernice Albertine (March 28, 1963, Atlanta, Georgia)

In September of 1951, Martin Luther King, Jr.
began doctoral studies in Systematic Theology
at Boston University.

He also studied at Harvard University.
His dissertation,
“A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the
Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman,”
was completed in 1955, and the Ph.D.
degree was awarded on June 5, 1955.
Honorary Degrees
Dr. King was awarded honorary degrees
from various colleges and universities in
the United States and several foreign countries. They include:
Doctor of Humane Letters, Morehouse College
Doctor of Laws, Howard University
Doctor of Divinity, Chicago Theological Seminary
Doctor of Laws, Morgan State University
Doctor of Humanities, Central State University
Doctor of Divinity, Boston University
Doctor of Laws, Lincoln University
Doctor of Laws, University of Bridgeport
Doctor of Civil Laws, Bard College
Doctor of Letters, Keuka College
Doctor of Divinity, Wesleyan College
Doctor of Laws, Jewish Theological Seminary
Doctor of Laws, Yale University
Doctor of Divinity, Springfield College
Doctor of Laws, Hofstra University
Doctor of Humane Letters, Oberlin College
Doctor of Social Science,
Amsterdam Free University
Doctor of Divinity, St. Peter’s College
Doctor of Civil Law, University
of New Castle, Upon Tyne
Doctor of Laws, Grinnell College
Career
Martin Luther King, Jr. entered the Christian
ministry and was ordained in February 1948 at the age of nineteen
at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia. Following his ordination,
he became Assistant Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Upon completion of his studies at Boston University, he accepted the
call of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
He was the pastor of Dexter Avenue from
September 1954 to November 1959, when he
resigned to move to Atlanta to direct the activities
of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
From 1960 until his death in 1968, he was co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Dr. King was a pivotal figure in the
Civil Rights Movement. He was elected President of the
Montgomery Improvement Association,
the organization that was responsible for
the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955 to 1956 (381 days).
He was arrested thirty times for his
participation in civil rights activities.

He was a founder and
president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
from 1957 to 1968. He was also Vice President of
the National Sunday School and Baptist Teaching Union
Congress of the National Baptist Convention.

Dr. King received numerous awards for his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement.
The Nobel Peace Prize, at age 35,
the youngest man, second American, and the third black
man to be so honored, 1964.
The Marcus Garvey Prize for Human Rights, presented by the
Jamaican Government, posthumously, 1968.

The Rosa L. Parks award, presented by The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, posthumously, 1968.
The above awards and others,
along with numerous citations, are in the Archives of
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent
Social Change, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Death"

Dr. King was shot while standing on
the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in
Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968.
Dr. King was in Memphis to help lead
sanitation workers in a protest against
low wages and intolerable working conditions.
James Earl Ray was arrested in
London, England on June 8, 1968,
and returned to Memphis, Tennessee on July 19, 1969
to stand trial for the assassination of
Dr. King. On March 9, 1969, before coming to
trial, he entered a guilty plea and was
sentenced to ninety-nine years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary.

Dr. King’s funeral services were
held on April 9, 1968 at Ebenezer Baptist Church
and on the campus of Morehouse College,
with the President of the United State proclaiming
a day of mourning and flags being
flown at half-staff. The area where
Dr. King is entombed is located on Freedom Plaza and is
surrounded by the Freedom Hall Complex of the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site.
The site is a 23-acre area was listed as a
National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977
and was made a National Historic Site on October 10, 1980
by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

In recent years, events in the lives
of the King family have continued
to reflect the tragedy and the triumph so
uniquely combined in Dr. King’s own life and is intrinsic,
perhaps, in the lives of all
dedicated persons the world over.

"Dedication To All Our Young"

"May Your Souls Rest In Peace"

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