Photo credit U.S. Department of State

By Patricia L Johnson

He was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, GA as Michael Luther King Jr. and his name was later changed to Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King died at the hands of an assassin at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN on April 4, 1968, while in Memphis to lead a protest march.

Dr. King lived an incredible life including meetings with both President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson, and a brief history of his life may be read at the following:

Dr. King’s power to influence others was enormous, but could really be summed with a couple statements.

(1) In 1951, while attending Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania he was elected President of his senior class by predominately white students. This was during a period in our history when black people had little or no rights as it wasn’t until May 17, 1954 that the United States Supreme Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education.

(2) At age 35, he was the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

The formal dedication of Dr. King’s memorial was scheduled to take place on August 28, 2011, which is the anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, but may be delayed due to Hurricane Irene.

Text and audio of Dr. King’s speech may be found at the following link http://www.drmartinlutherkingjr.com/ihaveadream.htm

A virtual tour of the memorial site may be viewed at the following link 

© 2011 Patricia L Johnson