Photo credits: George Tames/New York Times Co. /Getty
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is known for his famous nonviolent marches and powerful lectures against systemic oppression.
Many people forget, however, that he began his ministry as a young preacher with “just a dream.” King was ordained as a Baptist preacher on February 25, 1948, and began working as an associate pastor at his father’s Atlanta, Georgia church. The King family was a middle-class family with deep roots in black ministry in the South.
Both his father and maternal grandfather were Baptist preachers, and King was encouraged to follow in their footsteps later in life.
Following that, MLK studied at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. For many years, he learned about Mohandas Gandhi’s nonviolent lifestyle and other strategies used in modern peaceful demonstrations.
Despite growing up in a privileged African-American neighborhood and having parents who were both college graduates, King was subjected to racial discrimination from an early age.
King’s heart was crushed at the age of six when one of his white colleagues informed him he could not play with him any longer since they were in segregated schools.
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