Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Portrayed by Ashley B.
February 2000



    I'm Martin Luther King Jr.  If you were a black in my time, without me, you would still be treated badly.  I was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta Georgia.  I am the 2nd of 3 children.  Here is a story that changed my life.  I raced home after school and ran to my two friends' house.  I knocked as usual and all of a sudden their mom opened the door so I asked if they could play.  "No they can't" she said.  "Why?" I asked.  She said, actually she yelled at me, "because you're black and we're white."  I didn't understand so that night I asked my mom to explain.  She told me about slaves.  Black slaves to be honest.
    I was one of the smartest kids in my class.  I entered a college at age 15 and graduated in 1948.  I also got a doctorate in 1955.  I met my wife Coretta Scott at Boston University.  We were married in 1953.  We have 4 children.  They are Yolanda Denise who was born in 1955, Martin Luther King III born in 1957, Dexter Scott born in 1961, and Bernice Albertine born in 1963.
    I made many accomplishments, received many awards, and gave many speeches in my life but here are a few examples.  I lead the bus boycott system it was in the year of 1955 in Montgomery Alabama.  How we did it you ask?  We, the blacks, had many meetings and refused to ride the buses for 1 day, but it ended up as 381 days.  When I served as a black leader I was arrested 30 times.  Between 1906 and 1966 I was a co-pastor.  I was also Vice- President for the South Christan Leadership Conferences.
    You probably are wondering why I'm talking to you. Well I was a Civil rights leader which is a leader that stands up for their own kind.  I believe in NON-VIOLENT protest which means there is no violence in our protests.  The problem with this was that a lot of whites didn't like me.  I was shot and killed on April 4, 1968 standing on a balcony in Tennessee.  I was assassinated by an unknown gunman.

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