Founders & Guardians - Martin Luther King Jr.

Michael R. McGough
February 2026

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

(From the book, Strength of Love, by Martin Luther King Jr., 1963)

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on Tuesday, January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, a church pastor in the segregated south, was a significant influence on his son. In the 1930s, King Sr. led peaceful marches to protest racial segregation and voter discrimination. Decades later that model powered King Jr.’s work for racial equality and social justice.

Educated in the public schools of Atlanta, King entered Morehouse College at age 15. Following college, he entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he earned a divinity degree in 1951. While there, he became familiar with the peaceful protest model of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi (1869-1948), a politician and social activist in India, led the Indian Independence Movement against British rule. Like Gandhi, peaceful protest was a hallmark of King’s work.

In 1951, MLK entered a doctoral program in systematic theology at Boston University. While in Boston, he met and married Coretta Scott, a student at the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1954, the Kings left Boston, so Martin could become the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1955, he completed his doctorate.

Following the 1955 arrest of Rosa Parks, who violated the segregation laws of Montgomery by refusing to give up her bus seat for a white passenger, the Montgomery Improvement Association organized a transit system boycott. Dr. King led this boycott. His peaceful participation resulted in the bombing of his house and a brief imprisonment, but he emerged as a recognized spokesperson for the civil rights movement.

As a respected voice of the civil rights movement, King was a leader in the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in early 1957. The SCLC gave the civil rights movement another powerful voice and increased public attention for needed reforms. It also provided organizational structure to support peaceful, nonviolent efforts to end race-based discrimination and expand social justice for all. King served as the first president of the SCLC, until his death in 1968. As its president, MLK successfully partnered the SCLC with other organizations, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), to achieve the shared goal of racial equality.

Martin became co-pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church with his father in 1960. That same year he joined college students staging a sit-in at a lunch counter. They were arrested, but the charges were later dropped. However, King was sentenced to extended prison time for violating his probation, following a minor traffic arrest months earlier. With the intercession of John F. Kennedy, the 1960 Democratic candidate for president, King was released.

Two momentous actions in 1963 broadened public awareness of segregation practices and heightened calls for reform. They were the Birmingham, Alabama sit-ins in the spring and the historic March on Washington in August. King was a major force in both of these events. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, during the March on Washington, Dr. King delivered his now famous “I Have A Dream” speech. As a result of the work done by King and other civil rights activists, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law. It was the most important advance in civil rights since Reconstruction. That same year, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was named “Man of the Year” for 1963 by Time Magazine, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, organized by King and the SCLC to call for federal voting rights protections, met with serious opposition. On March 7th, known as “Bloody Sunday,” marchers led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams were turned back by police with nightsticks and tear gas on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Later that same year, the landmark piece of legislation known as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, was passed by Congress.

In early 1968, King was planning another march on Washington. He wanted to draw attention to how the war in Vietnam was diverting attention and resources away from the initiatives to address the plight of the poor in the United States. In early April, in the midst of that planning, he made a trip to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. On the evening of April 3rd, while speaking at the Mason Temple Church, he said, “I have seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.” The next day, he was assassinated.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy rests solidly in his genuine commitment to the American Dream for all. Through his work, he shined a light on the darkness of segregation and inspired meaningful efforts to expand social injustice. His life stands as a model of how one person’s commitment to a just cause can inspire millions and move them to action. In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. King received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977) and the Congressional Gold Medal, which he shares with his wife (1994). In 1983, by federal legislation, the third Monday of January, was designated as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Picture Caption:

Dr. King’s birth name was Michael King Jr. In 1934, his father attended a meeting of the Baptist World Alliance in Germany. While there, he was inspired by the work of Martin Luther, a leader during the Protestant Reformation. When he returned home, he changed his name and his son’s name to Martin Luther King.