Remembering
Martin Luther King, Jr.

presented by KIDSWORK

Martin Luther King was a great leader, perhaps the greatest
American Civil Rights Leader of all times. He believed that
all people in America should enjoy the same public rights,
the same opportunities. He hated racism and hoped to see
people get along better. He saw horrible racism in the
United States during his life and sought to change that.
He had a dream. His dream was that white people and black
people would one day be friends, would one day understand
each other. Dr. King was a great leader.

Dr. King was born in Atlanta, Georgia January 15, 1929.
He was killed April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. He went
to Memphis to be part of a March so that black and white
garbage workers could receive the same pay for the same
kind of work. Because he was such a special man, he was
given a very special funeral – thousands of people
attended. He is buried in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1983, Congress declared the third Monday in every
January to be an annual federal holiday to honor
Martin Luther King’s life and hopes and ideals.

When Dr. King was a child, there were many "White Only"
signs in Atlanta and other American cities. Black people
were not allowed to be in many or most restaurants,
schools, parks, playgrounds, or hotels that were for
white people only. He did not understand that. He could
not drink water from public water fountains that said
"White Only" ...he had to ride in special seats at the
back of public city buses. He was a very sensitive,
intelligent boy and these things hurt and baffled him.

King’s father was a pastor and his mother had been a
teacher, but they were not able to easily explain these
things to him: They told him about slavery, how a long
time ago, black people were brought to America in chains
and sold as slaves. Even though slaves were set free by
President Lincoln, black people were still treated bad
and unfairly by many white people.

At fifteen years old, Martin Luther entered college at
Morehouse College in Atlanta.. He decided to become a
pastor like his Dad. He then went to Boston University
to get a doctorate degree. This is where he met his
future wife, Caretta Scott, a music student.
They married. His first job as a pastor was at Dexter
Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954.

It was in Montgomery that Rosa Parks, a very brave
black woman, decided to sit in a "White Only" section
of a city bus. She was arrested and taken to jail.

In December, 1955, Dr. King led a bus boycott protest
march. His home was bombed shortly after this.
This was the beginning of many marches, arrests, and
terrible trouble for Dr. King and his family.

Dr. King believed in meeting hate with love, in peaceful
protesting. This is what he tried to talk about. He moved
to Atlanta in 1960 and led many peaceful protest marches
against “White Only” things: he wanted to be free, he
wanted black people to be free – at lunch counters and
restaurants, in parks, in jobs – he wanted an end to
segregation in public schools.

In his very famous speech in August, 1963 where he led his
biggest protest march ever in Washington,D.C., he said in
this very famous speech:

"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."

Dr. King did not want people to be mean to each other.
He wanted peace in the world for all peoples.
In December, 1964 Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1965 in March he organized a voter registration march
from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. In August, 1965,
President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.
Dr. King’s next years were spent opposing the Vietnam War.
April 4, 1968 he was killed by a sniper at the Lorraine
Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The sniper was James Earl Ray.
Dr. King died an hour after being shot.
He was only thirty-nine years old.

In the late sixties though the laws were changing in many
states, there was much violence, argument, and riots between
black people and white people. This was a time of great
change in our country, an end of segregation in public
places. I can remember when a schoolbus of children was
turned over in Orangeburg, South Carolina…when an army
tank patrolled the street where I lived to be sure no one
was on the street because a curfew had been ordered.
That was very frightening!

However, public schools became integrated , and black and
white children began going to the same public schools all
over America. Because of the work Dr. King did, and many
other people, anyone can sit in any seat on a bus today
in any empty seat…people share the same bathrooms, parks,
water fountains. Dr. King taught so many of us so many
lessons about love, peace, what our rights are,
what fair is...what dreams are.

Dr. King believed that he was a citizen of the world and often said so.
He cared about people all over the world.
He was and is a hero to many of us because
he was brave and full of love and compassion.

mb- written Jan 14, 1999
**If any facts are wrong, please let me know.

~Dr. King's "I HAVE A DREAM" speech, click here~

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