Romance for a King
While Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Boston he met Coretta Scott of Marion, Alabama. They were married in June of 1953. The Kings, in time, became the parents of Martin Luther III and Dexter Scott. They also had two daughters, Yolanda Denise and Bernice Albertine.
In 1954, one year after the Kings had wed, King accepted an appointment as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
King and Civil Rights
The same year that King became pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama the United States Supreme Court outlawed all segregated public education. Soon, in the wake of this decision, the segregated South faced a challenge in every area of public accommodation.
In December 1955, King was chosen to head the Montgomery Improvement Association. This association had been formed by the Black community to lead a boycott of the segregated city buses to protest enforced racial segregation in public transportation. This boycott lasted for 381 days, resulting in King being arrested and jailed. His home, during this time, was bombed, and numerous threats made against his life.
In spite of the violent actions made against himself and other Blacks during this boycott, King persuaded his followers to remain nonviolent despite threats to their lives and property.
Late in 1956 the United States Supreme Court forced desegregation of the buses. King believed that the boycott proved that "there is a new Negro in the South, with a new sense of dignity and destiny."
Two years later, in 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr. became the youngest recipient of the Spingarn Medal. The National Association presented this award annually to an outstanding Black person for the Advancement of Colored People.
King For Civil Rights: From Boston to Boycotting continues with
King the Peaceful: From Gandhi to the Birmingham Jail.
Previous: Martin Luther King, Jr: A Man of Peace and Equal Rights.
