King, Martin Luther

(1929–68)

   Philanthropist and Polemicist.

   King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States of America and he was educated at the Afro-American Morehouse College and at Boston University. After becoming a Baptist minister, he served a congregation in Montgomery, Alabama, from 1954. At this period black Americans were campaigning against segregation and King organised a boycott of buses which resulted in a desegregation order from the Supreme Court. From 1960 he worked full time for the Civil Rights Movement. In 1964 the Civil Rights Bill was passed and he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Influenced by the Indian leader Gandhi, he was committed to non-violent methods. He is perhaps best remembered for his great speech for integration which began ‘I have a dream . . .’. He was the author of several books, including Stride Toward Freedom and Why We Can’t Wait. In general, he won over the white liberal establishment to his cause. He also aroused a great deal of opposition both from white reactionaries and from more radical blacks. He was assassinated in 1968.

   T. Branch, Parting the Waters: Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement (1988);

   D.L. Lewis, Martin Luther King: A Critical Biography (1970);

   K. Smith, Search for the Beloved Community: The Thinking of Martin Luther King Jnr (1986).