5 Random Things About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is the most well-known civil rights leader of the 20th century. His untimely death in 1968 from an assassin’s bullet, took away one of America’s greatest human gifts. He was an exceptional orator, and wise beyond his years. Seriously, look at a picture of Martin Luther King, and tell me he looks like he’s only in his 30s. You can look in his face and tell that he carried the sorrow of a generation. He was an exceptional human being, and as such, he is 1 of only 4 individuals for whom there is a national holiday associated with him. Most people know the major stuff about him, so in honor of Martin Luther King Day here are 5 somewhat obscure facts about America’s 20th century martyr.
- Martin Luther King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 at the age of 35. At the time, he was the youngest person to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Martin Luther King is honored as a saint in the United States by the Episcopal and Lutheran churches.
- Martin Luther King skipped 2 grades in high school, one of which was his senior year. As such, he did not graduate, yet he started at Morehouse College at the age of 15. The history of his education is as follows:
- Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Morehouse College (1948)
- Bachelor of Divinity from Crozer Theological Seminary (1951)
- Doctor of Philosophy from Boston University (1955)
- Martin Luther King was a thorn in the side of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who believed that King was a communist. As such, the FBI wiretapped King and tracked his movements as part of their counter intelligence program (COINTELPRO).
- There is a statue of Martin Luther King in Westminster Abbey, where he is honored as 1 of 10 20th century martyrs:
Image courtesy of Aschaf on Flickr
Bonus: Considering the harassment that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received from the FBI, the King Family does not believe that James Earl Ray acted alone in his assassination. Last year I wrote a piece about this issue on James Earl Ray’s birthday, and you can read it here.
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James Earl Ray’s story was always suspect. The govt’ confessional/torture system is no good and the fact that we believe everything we hear without knowing all the facts. There are too many people in this country who are serving other people jail or death sentences for the real criminals.
Anyway, I would like to give thanks for everything that was done to change the course of history by MLK and everyone else standing by his side and for the cause.
And also to you for always giving us the facts and not letting us down especially for MLK day!
Thanks, Dynasty! Too many people are willing to accept something as fact without first examining the evidence. It’s a shame that James Earl Ray never went to trial. As long as nothing was said under oath, the perpetrators can continue with their plausible deniability.
They may have killed the man, but they haven’t killed the dream.