Martin+Luther+King,+Jr.

= Martin Luther King, Jr. =

**//Historical Allusion//** (type of allusion named here)

Explanation/Background (the original story, information, or facts about your actual allusion)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 to a family of pastors in Atlanta. His grandfather was the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta from 1914-1931, and his father was a pastor of that church from 1931 until 1975.

Dr. King was a well-educated individual. He attended segregated schools in Atlanta and graduated high school at just 15 years of age. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in 1948 at the age of 19 from Morehouse College in Atlanta. From there, he went on to earn his Bachelor of Divinity Degree three years later from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. Finally, at the age of 26, he earned his doctorate degree from Boston University. While attending school in Boston, he met and married Coretta Scott, and they went on to have 2 sons and 2 daughters.

Dr. King spent most of his career as a pastor and as a civil rights leader. He started out in 1954 as a pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He was already active in the civil rights movement at that time and was on the executive committee of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). From 1957 until his death in 1968, he served as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a new group formed to lead the civil rights movement. In his role as leader of this organization, King blended Christianity with the nonviolent methods of Ghandi and successfully led the SCLC and civil rights movement for 11 years with his methods of nonviolent resistance. In 1960, he returned to Atlanta to become copastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church alongside his father, and he served in that role along with his work in the SCLC until his death.

In his work as a civil rights leader, King traveled millions of miles; spoke, protested, and marched thousands of times; wrote many books and articles; and was awarded five honorary degrees. He also worked with four different presidents--Nixon, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson--to try to bring about justice and civil rights for African Americans. For his work, he was arrested over 20 times and assaulted at least four, suffered bombing attacks on his home and personal abuse, but despite these personal difficulties, he continued to lead fearlessly and tirelessly. Tragically, King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn, where he had gone to lead a march for striking garbage workers.

Highlights of King's accomplishments and activities:
 * 1955, King led the first major nonviolent demonstration of the civil rights movement in the US, the bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala. The boycott lasted 382 days and ended after the bus company gave in. The Supreme court later declared segregation on the buses unconstitutional.
 * 1958, helped organize and lead the “Crusade for Citizenship,” a voter registration drive for African Americans in important cities in the South.
 * 1960, began to work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the sit-in movement to integrate lunch counters and other places of business.
 * 1962-63, led a massive protest in Birmingham, Ala, a city that had a heavy Ku Klux Klan presence; attracted worldwide attention and sympathy to the civil rights movement there; wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the manifesto of the civil rights movement
 * 1963, led the peaceful demonstration of 250,000 in Washington DC and delivered his famous “I Have a Dream “ speech, named man of the year by Time magazine
 * 1964, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest ever to win at just 35
 * 1965, marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to protest lack of voting rights for African Americans there
 * 1967, started speaking out against Vietnam war

===Ideas King portrays, what he represents (What does your allusion mean? Think about the morals, lessons, and ideas present in your allusion's background, but you should also consult and read allusion books and online reference materials for information as to its meaning.) ===

Dr. King's life portrays many ideals that people admire. He was a selfless, untiring, devoted, self-sacrificing, inspiring, courageous, deeply spiritual, and much-loved leader. He often represents the ideas of freedom fighter, crusader, liberator, the civil rights movement, nonviolent resistance, and brotherhood. When reporting his assassination, [|Walter Cronkite] called him "the apostle of nonviolence in the civil rights movement."

He was also known for his eloquence and passion in speech and writing and his outstanding ability to inspire and move others with his oration skills.

Examples using King as allusion (Write at least one sentence that uses your allusion to describe something else.)
Because the speaker at the rally was so passionate and convincing, it seemed as though we were listening to Dr. King himself. The oppressed villagers had found their own Martin Luther King in the energetic and inspirational freedom fighter, and they were willing to follow him anywhere.

Works Consulted (list all the reference materials you used for this project, including websites. Link the websites. Easybib.com is a great resource to use for this part.)

 * Cole, Sylvia, Abraham H. Lass, and Sylvia Cole. The Facts on File Dictionary of Cultural and Historical Allusions. New York: Facts on File, 2000. Print.Used for meaning.
 * "Martin Luther King - Biography." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. Print.Used to add to the biographical information.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Martin Luther King - Biography." Nobel Lectures. 1964. Nobelprize.org. The Nobel Foundation. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. ﻿﻿<@http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html>.Took most of the biographical information from this site.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Readdean, Kevin. "Got MLK?" Web log post. Kevin Readdean - Voice Talent. 18 Jan. 2010. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <@http://www.kevinsvoice.com/2010/01/got-mlk>.Used photograph found on this blog for wiki page.