Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and leader in the African-American civil rights movement. He's best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights through acts of nonviolent civil disobedience. A Baptist minister, King led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful struggle against segregation in Albany, GA, in 1962, and organized nonviolent protests in Birmingham that attracted national attention. King also helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech and established his reputation as one of the top orators in American history. He also established his reputation as a radical. On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize, and in 1965, he and the SCLC helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, taking the movement to Chicago the following year. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include poverty and the Vietnam War. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis.
