Martin Luther King, Jr.
             Martin Luther King, Jr. posed challenges to segregation and racial
             discrimination in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s through non-
             violent and peaceful moves and put across his message to the white
             Americans to help support the cause of the civil rights.
             After his assassination in 1968 at the prime time of his civil rights
             movement, King became a symbol of protest in the blacks' struggle for
             Early Life
             King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father served
             as pastor of a large Atlanta church, Ebenezer Baptist. King Jr. was
             ordained as a Baptist minister at the age of 18. (Badger)
             King attended local segregated public schools and graduated with a
             bachelor's degree in sociology from Morehouse College in 1948. He graduated
             with honors from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1951. He
             earned a doctoral degree in systematic theology from Boston University.
             King was exposed to influences that related Christian theology to the
             struggles of oppressed peoples throughout his academic career. He also
             studied the teachings on non-violent movement of Indian leader Mohandas
             Gandhi. Benjamin E. Mays, a leader in the national community of racially
             liberal clergymen, played a key role in shaping King's theological
             In 1954 King accepted his first pastorate at the Dexter Avenue Baptist
             Civil Rights Movement
             King became one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership
             Conference (SCLC) in 1957 and also became its President. SCLC was an
             organization of black churches and ministers that opposed racial
             segregation. The SCLC supported the NAACP's legal efforts to put an end to
             segregation through the courts with nonviolent direct action to protest
             racial discrimination. These activities included marches, demonstrations,
             and boycotts. The direct ...