26 Facts About Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s death was followed by national mourning, as well as anger leading to riots in many US cities.

Martin Luther King Jr., believing her dead, blamed himself and attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s parents instructed him that it was his Christian duty to love everyone.

When Martin Luther King Jr.'s father took him into a shoe store in downtown Atlanta, the clerk told them they needed to sit in the back.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s father refused, stating "we'll either buy shoes sitting here or we won't buy any shoes at all", before taking Martin Luther King Jr. and leaving the store.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s father instructed him in his bedroom that King should not blame himself for her death, and that she had been called home to God as part of God's plan that could not be changed.

Shortly thereafter, Martin Luther King Jr.'s father decided to move the family to a two-story brick home on a hill that overlooked downtown Atlanta.

That year, King skipped the ninth grade and was enrolled in Booker T Washington High School, where he maintained a B-plus average.

The boycott lasted for 385 days, and the situation became so tense that Martin Luther King Jr.'s house was bombed.

Martin Luther King Jr., representing the SCLC, was among the leaders of the "Big Six" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28,1963.

The March, and especially Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Dr Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech had been rebroadcast on Amherst's student-run radio station, WAMF.

The "Beyond Vietnam" speech reflected Martin Luther King Jr.'s evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated.

King's stance on Vietnam encouraged Allard K Lowenstein, William Sloane Coffin and Norman Thomas, with the support of anti-war Democrats, to attempt to persuade King to run against President Johnson in the 1968 United States presidential election.

Criticism of Martin Luther King Jr.'s plan was subdued in the wake of his death, and the SCLC received an unprecedented wave of donations for the purpose of carrying it out.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy includes influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and civil rights movement in South Africa.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s work was cited by, and served as, an inspiration for South African leader Albert Lutuli, who fought for racial justice in his country during apartheid and was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s purpose was to help them understand King's death as it related to racism, something they little understood as they lived in a predominantly white community.

Daughter Yolanda Martin Luther King Jr., who died in 2007, was a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training.

However, his youngest child, Bernice Martin Luther King Jr., has said publicly that he would have been opposed to gay marriage.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent thought was based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus' teaching of putting the sword back into its place.

The trip to India affected Martin Luther King Jr., deepening his understanding of nonviolent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights.

Lyndon B Johnson once said that King was a "hypocritical preacher".

Garrow asserted that Martin Luther King Jr.'s supposed promiscuity caused him "painful and at times overwhelming guilt".

Garrow had earlier referred to Ling's work on Martin Luther King Jr., widely considered authoritative, as "thoughtful, perceptive, and thoroughly well-informed".