Martin Luther King Jr.
Jeffery Payne
2nd Block
Mrs. Todd
Did you know…
 Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929 in
Atlanta, Georgia.
 He was the middle child of Michael King Sr. and Alberta
Williams King.
 In 1948, Martin earned a sociology degree from Morehouse
College and attended Crozer Theological Seminary in
Chester, Pennsylvania.
 Martin Luther King Jr. died on April 4, 1968 in Memphis,
Tennessee from a gunshot wound.
Martin Luther King Jr. is famous
because…
 Martin Luther King Jr. was a famous Civil Rights leader and
activist.
 He helped organize nonviolent protests against the harsh
treatment of African Americans.
 In 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a boycott of public bus
transportation in Montgomery, Alabama after Rosa Parks was
arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a
bus.
 In 1959, he encouraged African American students to organize
“sit ins” at segregated lunch counters to show that they opposed
segregation. The sit ins helped end segregation at lunch
counters in 27 southern states.
More accomplishments for
Martin…
 In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a demonstration in
Birmingham, Alabama. He was arrested and this gained the
nation’s attention to the bad things that were going on in the
South.
 In March of 1963, Martin and others organized a massive
march on Washington which included over 200,000
demonstrators. This is where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his
famous “I have a dream” speech.
 From 1965 – 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. organized
countless other peaceful demonstrations to protest the
mistreatment of African Americans.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s
Assassination
 In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was visiting Memphis,
Tennessee to support the labor strikes that were going on
there.
 This is where he told onlookers, “I have seen the promised
land. I may not get you there, but I want you to know tonight
that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”
 The next day, while standing outside on his hotel balcony,
Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in the back of the head by a
sniper’s bullet. That sniper was James Earl Ray.
How did Martin Luther King Jr.
impact the world and what is his
relevance to the novel The
Wednesday Wars?
 Martin Luther King Jr. impacted the world by standing up for
what he believed was right and organizing peaceful protests
to help end the harsh treatment of African Americans
throughout the South and the United States.
 The setting of the book is during the same time as the Civil
Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination is
also discussed in the book. These events helped me
understand what life was like during that time and how
people felt about the things that were going on during that
time.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Famous
Quotes
 “I have seen the promised land. I may not get you there, but I
want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the
promised land.”
 “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.”
Sources
 www.biography.com
 www.wikipedia.com