Martin Luther King Memorial

On August 22nd, 2011 the Martin Luther King Memorial was opened to the public in Washington DC. This stunning monument features a 30-foot figure of Dr. King looking forward standing firm. Dr. King's monument is in good company, standing near Presidents Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington and FDR. Fittingly, Dr. King's statue is close to Lincoln's memorial where Martin Luther King gave his famous "I have a Dream" speech on August 28th, 1963. Other Dr. King awards and recognitions include having been the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977, the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004, and was given a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.

Martin Luther King Jr. Biography

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15th, 1929. Dr. King excelled in education and attended Morehouse College with a B.A. in 1949, Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951, and received his P.h.D. in 1955 from Boston University. Martin Luther King Jr. initially followed his father's footsteps and practiced as a minister of a Baptist church in Montgomery Atlanta prior to focussing all of his efforts on raising awareness about civil rights for all people.

Dr. King's quest in civil rights included organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, the 1957 Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the famous March on Washington in 1963 where he delivered his legendary "I have a Dream" speech, and his "I've been to the Mountaintop" speech. Dr. King would later expand his focus to include such hot-topics as fair compensation and opposition to the unpopular Vietnam war. Through the 1950s and 1960s Martin Luther King was arrested numerous times even though he followed his philosophy of resistance through nonviolence. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4th 1968 in Memphis Tennessee. King's untimely death would eventually cause multiple riots throughout the Unites States of America. Robert 'Bobby' Kennedy, who was campaigning for presidency at this time, gave a speech immediately after King's death, urging Dr. King's followers to continue to follow Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophy of non-violence.

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