Martin Luther King Jr Day 

By Ethan Clawson 

Martin Luther King Jr. started life out in beautiful Atlanta Georgia and was the middle child of his family. He had an older sister Willie Christine and a younger brother Alfred Daniel Williams King, his mother Alberta Williams King and his father was Martin Luther King Sr. Martin Luther King’s name was not always Martin, his father was on a trip to Germany once and was so impressed by a German Protestant by the name of Martin Luther that he decided he wanted to change his son’s name. King entered public school at age 5. When he reached high school, he was said to be a precocious student and even skipped both 9^th and 11^th grades. He entered Morehouse College at the age of 15 and was popular throughout college. He was not very motivated and floated through his first 2 years. His father tried to get him involved in the church, but he did not want anything to do with ministry. In his junior year he decided to take a Bible class and he renewed his faith and started to see a career in ministry. He started his career off by preaching in the church and spreading his words through the ministry and then he went to the public. His most profound speech was the “I have a dream” speech.  Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered at the 28 August 1963 at the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” This was the speech he was best known for; it was his biggest breakthrough to the public, whites and blacks all in one place to hear what he had to say.  

Mrs. Cassandra Wensel, a teacher at Lenape Technical School, said this when she was asked about Martin Luther King Day; “I wish we had more people in the world like Martin Luther King, Jr. He spoke in such a way that inspired, but also fueled a movement for change. His words were defiant and powerful but also filled with love and hope. He accomplished so much in his short time, and he did it all with words.”  He really said we should talk things out instead of using violence to solve our problems. 

Martin Luther King inspired a lot of people and stopped segregation before he was killed. During the time he was alive he accomplished so many great things and even after death his wife carried on his legacy. He was married to his wife, Coretta Scott King, and they had 4 children. They ended up settling in Montgomery, Alabama. Their children continued to become civil rights activists like their parents were in the 50’s and 60’s.