In order to change the world, you got to have that it factor. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) clearly met the standard. With his skills, he moved American society forward, earned a federal holiday in his honor, and inspired random people in Rochester, NY, to write about him over a half century after his death. Yet somehow, every month, thousands of people still ask Google, Who was MLK? So here’s a brief answer in 10 numbers.
1929
The year MLK was born (on January 15 in Atlanta, Georgia). His birth name was Michael, but when he was five years old, his father changed both their names to Martin Luther in honor of the central figure in the Protestant Reformation.
3
The number of degrees obtained by MLK. He began at Morehouse College in his home city at the tender age of 15, earning a Bachelor of Arts in sociology. Next, he obtained a Bachelor of Divinity from the Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. Finally, he landed a PhD in systematic theology from Boston University.
4
The number of children that MLK and his wife, Coretta Scott, had. The couple wed in 1953 and settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where MLK was pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. (MLK would later move back to Atlanta with his family, becoming co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church with his father.)
381
The number of days that the 1955 – 1956 Montgomery bus boycott lasted. The campaign—launched after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat as mandated by a policy of segregation—catapulted MLK onto the national scene.
1957
The year MLK, along with other civil rights leaders, founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Influenced by the practices of Mahatma Gandhi, MLK used his position as president of the organization to further promote nonviolent protest as an effective negotiating tactic.
29
The number of times MLK was imprisoned, often for acts of civil disobedience. On one such occasion in 1963, he penned the Letter from Birmingham Jail, emphasizing the importance of direct action in the fight for justice. Later that year, as the next number shows, he would prove his point in the nation’s capital.
250,000
An estimate of the number of people who participated in the 1963 March on Washington, backdrop for MLK’s legendary I Have a Dream speech. The events of that day culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as well as a Nobel Peace Prize for MLK in the same year).
1965
The year of the Selma to Montgomery marches, occurring in response to discriminatory practices regarding voter registration. Later that year, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, making such practices more difficult to implement.
1968
The year MLK—at age 39—was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, by escaped convict James Earl Ray. Debate has existed for years regarding whether Ray acted alone or was part of a larger conspiracy. He was ultimately arrested in London, apparently on his way to one or more African countries with governments that favored his segregationist views.
1983
The year President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating the aforementioned federal holiday in honor of MLK. Occurring on the third Monday in January to be in proximity to MLK’s birthday, the holiday was first observed in 1986.
So who was MLK? Allowing for the complexities and contradictions that define all individuals, we’ll call him a game changer. Of course, the game, as you know, isn’t over yet.
