----------- Feature
A day of realization and remembrance
5
WedNEsdAy, J anuary 25, 2002
Tit e CI ac I camàs .P rìnt
The life of Reverend King
1929-MartinLutherKingJr. was bom
to Reverend and Mrs. Martin Luther
King, Sr. in Atalanta, Georgia
1948- Martin Luther King Jr. Gradu
ates from Morehouse College, with
out ever graduat-
ing from high
school.
1953- King is mar
ried to Coretta
Scott in Marion,
Alabama.
1954- After choos
ing to become a
minister,
he
beccame the twen
tieth pastor of the
Dexter s Avenue
Church, Mont
gomery.
1955- King re
ceives his PHD
from Boston Uni
versity. Mrs. Rosa Parks is arrested for
failing to give up a bus seat to a white
man. African Americans boycott the
bus system in Montgomery, Alabama.
King is unanimously elected president
of an organization named the Mont
gomery Improvement Association.
Bus service in the black neighbor
hoods is suspended.
1956-A bomb is thrown onto the porch
of the King home in Montgomery.
King is indicted on charges under
charges of helping hinder the opera
tion of buses without legal cause. Dis-
' tri c t court rules that bus segregation is
unconstitutional. Montgomery buses
return to the African American neigh
borhoods with unsegregated service.
1957- Another bomb is placed on the
porch of the
King’s home
but tails to ex
plode. The
Southern
Christian
Leadership
Conference is
founded ;
King
is
elected its
president Na
tional guards
are ordered
by the vice
president to
escort nine
black stu
dents to a
white high school. The Civil Rights
Commission is created by the federal
government
1958- King’s book "Stride Toward
Freedom: The Montgomery Story" is
published by Harper & Row. King is
stabbed in the chest while doingabook
signing in the heart of Harlem. The
stabber, Mrs. Izola Curry, is suppos
edly mentally ill.
1959- King and family travel to India
to study Gandhi's techniques of non
violence as guests of the Prime Minis
ter.
1960- After the King family move to
Atlanta, Martin is made co-pastor of
the Ebenezer Baptist Church. The first
lunch-counter sit-in to desegregate
eating facilities is held. King is acquit
ted of the tax evasion charge by an all
white jury in Montgomery. King is ar
rested in Atlanta after conducting a
sit-in on charges of violating trust pass
ing laws. Kingis held ona$2,000 bond,
which is immediately paid and he is
released.
1961- A group called the Freedom Rid
ers intent on desegregating the inter
state bus system heads out from
Washington D.C. on a bus. In
Anniston, Alabama, the bus is raided
by a mob and the freedom riders are
beaten viciously. In Albany, Georgia
King conducts a demonstration to de
segregate public facilities. He is ar
rested while doing this on charges of
parading without a permit.
1962- King is convicted for leading
the march in Albany. After leaving jail,
King joins the Birmingham protests.
In Albany again, King is arrested for
obstructing the sidewalk and for dis
orderly conduct. The first African
American attempt at attending the Uni
versity of Mississippi is made and is a
success thanks to the Supreme Court.
1963- During another demonstration
King is arrested for a sit-in to protest
segregation of eating facilities. While
imprisoned King writes his letter from
a Birmingham jail. Use of police dogs
and fire hoses upon marching protest
ers is ordered in Birmingham. The Su-
preme Court rules Birmingham’s seg
regation laws are unconstitutional.
King’s book "Strength to Love" is pub
lished by Harper & Row. The march
on Washington is the first large scale
desegregation march held. King deliv
erers his"I have a dream" speech on
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
1964- King joins workers in demon
strations for the integration of public
accommodations in St. Augustine,
Florida. Because of this he is arrested,
and soon King’s book "Why We
Can’t Wait" is published by Harper &
Row. King attends the signing of the
Public Accommodations Bill. Riots oc
cur in Harlem andablackman his killed;
more take place in New Jersey, Illinois
and Pennsylvania. King receives the
Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Noway.
1965- President Johnson addresses
the nation and Congress. He describes
the voting rights bill he will submit to
Congress in two days. Police on horse
back beat demonstrators in Montgom
ery. Over 3,000 protest marchers leave
Selma for a march to Montgomery.
They are joined along the way by a
total of25,000marchers. Upon
reaching the capital they hear a
speech by King. King visits Chi
cago and aids in the effort to im
prove the Chicago Projects. The
1965 Voting Rights Act is signed
by President Johnson.
1966- King rents an apartment
in the black ghetto of Chicago.
King takes over a Chicago slum
building and is sued by its owner. The
Supreme Court rules any poll tax un
constitutional. King launches a drive
to make Chicago an open city in re
gard to housing. King is stoned in
Chicago as he leads a march through
crowds of angry whites.
1967- King writes his final book,
'Where Do We Go from Here?" while
visiting Jamaica. Alabama is ordered
to desegregate all public schools by
the federal government Tventy-three
people die, 725 are injured in riots in
Newark, New Jersey. Dr. King an
nounces the formation of a Poor
People’sCampaign, with the aim ofrep-
resenting the problems of poor blacks
and whites.
1968- King leads a parade of6,000pro
testers in support of striking African
American sanitation workers. King’s
last speech, entitled “I’ve Been to the
Mountain Top,” is delivered. King is
assassinated by a sniper at the Lorraine
Motel in Memphis. He dies moments
later in St Joseph’s Hospital from a
gunshot wound in the neck. James Earl
Ray was the shooter.
’’J-ree al last/ree al last.
ChaqH God alrqighty» 2Trr\ Jree
aliasi.”
Quotable Quotes:
”/fow is the W to mak« justice a reality /or all oj God’s children.”
()\ugust, 1963)
”We caqqot be truly "Cljristiaq people so long as we jlauqt the central teachings of Jesus:
aqd tl]e Goldeq fyile.”
(//fay, 1944)
’'...religioq/or rqeisli/e.” ( J^oYenqber, 1950).
’’"We will wiq our /reedorq because the sacred heritage oj our qatioq aqd the eterqal will oj
erqbodied iq our echoiqg derqaqds.”
()\pril, 1963)
”jViy parents would always tell rqe that J should not hat« the white man. but that it was my
Christian to loye hH**
(JloYember, 1963)
”3 hav« a dream today.”
()\ugust, 1963)
Information compiled by Salena De La Cruz from member@aol.com & Seattle Times.