Collège Paul-Emile Victor			....

Martin Luther King

English

Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta, in Georgia on the 15th January 1929.

He became a "baptist minister"at the age of 17,in 1948.He went on with his studies in Boston University.It was there,that he took an interest in the work of Gandhi whose ideas became the foundation of his own philosophy,which was based on non-violence.

In June 1953 he married Coretta Scott and the following year he became a pastor in the baptist church in Dexter Avenue in Montgomery,Alabama.

In 1960,King deserted his post in Montgomery to share with his father the office of pastor in the baptist church of Ebenezer in Atlanta.

1963 Martin Luther King organised a considerable campaign for the civil rights of Black people in the South.

1963 he was the head of a historic walk which took place on the 28th August in Washington.There he made this speech :

"I have a dream: my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin,but by the content of their characters "

1964 he received the Nobel Peace Price.

He was assassinated on the 4th April 1968 in Memphis,Tenessee.Almost100 000 people were present at his funeral in Atlanta.

M.L. King - a brief summary

Although slavery was abolished in 1865 in the United States it was difficult for Black people to gain the same rights as White people . In order to change this a pastor by the of Martin Luther King led a spectacular and non-violent struggle.In spite of the fact he was killed 1968 the situation of Black people improved.

A few years ago South Africa practised apartheid,which means segregation betweenWhites and Blacks,regulated by racist laws:in schools,on public transport,in shops,etc.,Black and White people were systematically separated.