Martin Luther King Jr.
by Justin Gavins
Facts:
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.
" I Have a Dream"
Fun Fact:
1) His name was originally Michael, not Martin. His father was also Michael King, hence why Martin Luther King Jr. was originally named Michael King Jr. However, after a trip to Germany in 1931, Michael King Sr. changed his own name in homage to historic German theologian Martin Luther. Michael King Jr. was two years old at the time and King Sr. made the decision to change his son’s name to Martin Luther as well.
Fun Fact:
2) At the age of 12, he seems to have tried to commit suicide. It was May of 1941 when his grandmother passed away after a heart attack. At the time of this event, King Jr. was off disobeying his parents by going to watch a parade when they told him not to. When he came home and learned his grandmother had died, he went upstairs and jumped from the second story window of his house.
Fun Fact:
3) King wasn’t the only one to die at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. After he was killed, one of the hotel workers, Lorraine Bailey (who was also the wife of the motel owner and who it was named after), upon seeing King get shot, had a heart attack and later died from this. This was partially why there was such a delay in getting an ambulance as Lorraine was also the switchboard operator and so when Reverend Samuel Kyles attempted to call an ambulance using the phone in the motel room, nobody was at the switchboard to make that happen. In Rev. Kyle’s own words,
Characteristics :
Leadership: MLK was the one that took the leadership position during the fight for equality. He was the one that stepped up to the plate when no one else would and found the answers to everybody’s questions. As a successful entrepreneur, you have to take on the leadership position of founder or CEO of your company, and with that, you have to know how to manage people, make decisions, and plan for success.
Inspiration:
Martin Luther King inspired people by never giving up on his one dream where the Blacks & Whites would unite and get rid of all the discrimination between the two races, King achieved this by giving his famous speech "I have a dream". He is inspirational to many people world wide!