“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”

Dr. Martin Luther King, the best known face of the African-American Civil Rights Movement, was, without doubt, an extraordinary man. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, served as the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which he helped found in 1957. He was also largely responsible for the passing of the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s. Both these Acts changed the USA forever, and significantly impacted the world.

On his 87th birth anniversary, we have compiled a list of 10 things you probably didn’t know about him.

1. Even though his family was deeply involved in worship and religion, a young Martin often questioned this faith and decided to be a doctor or a lawyer, much to his father’s dismay.
    
2. Dr. King was a precocious student. He skipped grade 9 and 11, and entered Morehouse College at the tender age of 15.
    
3. In Morehouse College, he gained the respect of his professors, as well as his classmates, owing to his sincerity and passion. He was valedictorian of his class, elected president of the student body, and easily earned a fellowship for graduate study. He graduated in 1948 with a degree inSociology.
    
4. He attended the liberal Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania pursuing a Bachelors in Divinity.
    
5. He was greatly influenced by the teachings of George D. Kelsey, and Dr. Benjamin Mays, which inspired him to accept ministry as his profession.
    
6. Today, Dr. King’s speeches inspire teachers and students alike, but in his first year of seminary school, he got a C in public speaking!
    
7. After graduation, he was accepted for doctoral study at Yale, Boston and Edinburgh. He chose Boston University, where he studied Systematic Theology. 
    
8. As he was signing copies of his book, ‘Stride Toward Freedom’, a woman walked up to him, and stabbed him in the chest with a 7 inch letter opener.
   
   After recovering, he said that he did not bear any grudges against his attacker.
    
9. Dr. King was the youngest male to receive the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 35.
    
10. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill declaring Dr. King’s birthday as a federal holiday. Martin Luther King and George Washington are the only two individuals whose birthdays have been declared national holidays in the United States.
     

On 28^th August 1963, from the steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington, King had said “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”  

Today, we can affirm that Dr. King’s legacy, and America’s character as a nation, have been built on the plinth of this dream which came true.