A Dream That Changed America: Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up in a loving family led by his father, a Baptist minister. From an early age, King was deeply thoughtful and spiritually motivated. He entered Morehouse College at just fifteen years old and went on to earn a doctorate in theology from Boston University. His powerful education prepared him for the historic role he would play.

In the 1950s, African Americans in the South lived under a system of legal racial segregation known as 'Jim Crow.' Black people were forced to use separate, inferior schools, restaurants, and public facilities. In 1955, Dr. King became a leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated b ...