Daring to Dream:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A presentation for grades 3 through 5 by the

Rice University Black Student Association

and Office of Public Affairs.

Understanding MLK

In order to better understand Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (today, we also know him by his initials, “MLK”), it is first helpful to recall some details of our country’s early history.

A History of Slavery

A person who is forced to work without pay is called a “slave.”

For more than a hundred years before America became an independent country, and for nearly a hundred years afterward, thousands of women, men, and children were taken from their homes in Africa and forced to work here as slaves.

Slaves on an American plantation

Freedom

In 1862, American President Abraham Lincoln signed the “Emancipation Proclamation” which freed all slaves in the southern states of our country.

In 1865, he signed the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which outlawed slavery in the USA forever.

Segregation

But even though they were no longer slaves, most African Americans still were not treated fairly, or given the same rights as white people.

All around the country, black people were separated from white people, and not allowed to go to the same schools or restaurants or shop in the same stores.

This is called “segregation.”

Students in an all-black segregated school

The Young MLK

Martin Luther King, Jr. (“MLK”) was born inGeorgia on January 15, 1929.

He went to segregated schools when hewas growing up.

Education was very important to the youngMLK. After graduating from high school,and getting a college degree also, he wentback to school again to become a churchminister.

His last college degree was a “doctorate”(Ph.D.) in religion, which is why we knowhim as “Dr. King.”

The Life of MLK

Dr. King married Coretta Scott in1953. They later had two sonsand two daughters.

In 1954, he became a churchminister just like his father and hisgrandfather.

He was pastor of the DexterAvenue Baptist Church in thesegregated town of Montgomery,Alabama, when somethinghappened that changed Dr. King’slife forever…

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

Becoming a Leader

On December 1, 1955, a womannamed Rosa Parks was riding a Montgomery, Alabama city buswhen the driver told her to give up her seat for a white passenger.

She didn’t think that was fair andrefused, so the bus driver calledthe police, who put her in jail.

To protest, Dr. King decided to leada bus boycott. “Boycott” means“refuse to use,” and with leadershipfrom Dr. King, Montgomery’s blackresidents refused to use the citybus system while it remainedsegregated.

Becoming a Leader

The Montgomery bus boycottcontinued for more than a year.

Finally, in 1956, the UnitedStates Supreme Court ruled thatthat segregation on public buseswas against the law.

Dr. King’s strategy of peaceful,non-violent protest had provedsuccessful, and it made him arecognized leader in the nationaleffort to secure equal “civil rights”for all Americans.

Leading the Nation

For eight years after the bus boycott, Dr. King traveled throughout the United States, speaking more than 25,000 times against the injustice of segregation, and leading peaceful civil rights marches.

Many Americans supported this civil rights movement, but others who opposed the ending of segregation did not like what Dr. King was saying and doing. He was arrested and put in jail more than once, and threats were made to try to silence him. His home was even bombed.

Leading the Nation

In 1963, Dr. King helped lead the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

More than 250,000 people turned out to show their support for equal rights for all Americans.

During the march, Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, one of the greatest public speeches in American history.

Click picture to watch speech on CBS News

Leading the Nation

Shortly after the March on Washington, the United States Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed segregation and guaranteed equal rights for all American citizens.

In recognition of his work as a civil rights leader and his dedication to non-violence, later that same year, Martin Luther King, Jr. became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Leading the Nation

After 1964, Dr. King continued to push for enforcement of civil rights laws. He also spoke out against America’s involvement in the Vietnam War and for the rights of poor people.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was shot and killed by an assassin’s bullet.

Since his death, others in the civil rights movement have worked to continued his legacy.

Dr. King’s Legacy

Today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. remains a hero to millions across our nation and throughout the world. His example continues to inspire those who seeking freedom and equality for all people.

Dr. King’s Legacy

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dared to dream that he could make the world a better place. Then he set out to

get the education he needed to make that happen.

What do you dream of doing in your life?

What kind of education will you need to do that?

At Rice, we believe that you can make our world a better place, and we want to help.

To know more, please visit www.rice.edu/mlk.

“Intelligence plus character –

that is the goal of true education.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

www.rice.edu/mlk

References

Texts cited:

• http://wikipedia.org• http://www.thekingcenter.org/DrMLKingJr/ • http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html • http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs218.html

Image sources:

• http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/• http://www.freeclipartnow.com/• http://wikipedia.org• http://thedailyvoice.com/voice/images/slavery3.jpg• http://publicdomainclip-art.blogspot.com/2006/12/martin-luther-kings-birthday-2.html• http://www.clker.com/clipart-2363.html• http://webclipart.about.com/library/hvarious/blmlk10aa.htm• http://gospelgifs.com/clips/clips2/art1050.htm• http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/education.shtml• http://namalt.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rosa-parks.jpg• http://www.elcivics.com/martin_luther_king_jr.jpg• http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/ViewingAmerica/roundtables/roundtable7/section3_files/marchonwash.jpg• http://riverdaughter.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/nobelpeaceprize1.jpg• http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2398/2386195475_9bb8a0da0f_o.jpg• http://www.chicagostagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/martinlutherkingjr.jpg• http://publicdomainclip-art.blogspot.com/2006/12/martin-luther-kings-birthday-2.html