martin luther :: essays research papers

One of the worlds best known advocates of non-violent social change strategies, Martin Luther King, Jr., synthesized ideas drawn from many different cultural traditions. Born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929, Kings roots were in the African-American Baptist church. He was the grandson of the Rev. A. D. Williams, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church and a founder of Atlantas NAACP chapter, and the son of Martin Luther King, Sr., who succeeded Williams as Ebenezers pastor and also became a civilized rights leader. Although, from an early age, King resented religious emotionalism and questioned literal interpretations of scripture, he nevertheless greatly admired black social gospel proponents such as his father who saw the church as a instrument for improving the lives of African Americans. Morehouse College president Benjamin Mays and other proponents of Christian social activism influenced Kings decision subsequently his junior year at Morehouse to become a minister and thereby serve s ociety. His continued skepticism, however, shaped his subsequent theological studies at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, and at Boston University, where he received a doctorate in systematic theology in 1955. Rejecting offers for academic positions, King decided while terminate his Ph. D. requirements to return to the South and accepted the pastorate of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in capital of Alabama, Alabama. On December 5, 1955, five days after Montgomery civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to obey the citys rules mandating segregation on buses, black residents launched a bus boycott and elected King as president of the newly-formed Montgomery Improvement Association. As the boycott continued during 1956, King gained national prominence as a result of his exceptional oratorical skills and personal courage. His house was bombed and he was convicted along with other boycott leaders on charges of conspiring to interfere with the bus companys operations. Despite these attempts to suppress the movement, Montgomery bus were desegregated in December, 1956, after the United States sovereign Court declared Alabamas segregation laws unconstitutional. In 1957, seeking to build upon the success of the Montgomery boycott movement, King and other southern black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As SCLCs president, King emphasized the goal of black voting rights when he spoke at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1957 Prayer tour for Freedom. During 1958, he published his first book, Stride Toward Freedom The Montgomery Story. The following year, he toured India, increased his understanding of Gandhian non-violent strategies.