The Autobiography Of Martin Luther King Jr.

King’s Life “The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.” was edited by Clayborne Carson. Carson went to his first civil rights demonstration and he saw King for the first time at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Two decades later, Carson was requested by Mrs. Coretta Scott King to become the director of the King Papers Project. He accepted the offer and became enveloped in King’s writings. The book is compiled of the autobiographical writings King published and edited the works (vii-i). The book begins with the early years of King’s life. He was born at home in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 1929. This was close to the start of the Great Depression (1). He was born on the same street as his family’s church …show more content…
His professors wanted the students to found a solution to racial issues in society. King read Henry David Thoreau’s On Civil Disobedience. This essay was the first time he came to the idea of the use of nonviolence for social reform. While attending Morehouse, he became skeptical of the Bible due to science. When he took a course in Biblical studies with Dr. Mays and Dr. George Kelsey, he saw them as prime examples of what the ideal minister should be. Both were greatly educated and deeply religious. In his senior year in college, he decided to join the ministry and finished college at nineteen (15-6). In 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. During his time at Crozer, he read a great deal from various philosophers such as Walter Rauschenbusch, Karl Marx, and more. He also attended many lectures and he eventually listened to Dr. Mordecai Johnson. Dr. Johnson returned from his trip in India and spoke of the life of Mahatma Gandhi and his use of nonviolence to achieve social justice. King brought a half-dozen books on Gandhi and began to believe the philosophy of “turning the other check” was not only applied in individual relationships but to bring social change (17-9; 22-24). King later went to Boston University’s School of Theology on September 13,1951. The school was under Dean Walter Muelder and Professor Allan Knight Chalmers and both greatly …show more content…
E. D. Nixon signed Parks’ bond and directly went to King. Nixon called for a boycott of the bus service and King agreed. King used his church as a place to meet. They sent seven thousand leaflets out to tell of the boycott. A bus stop was located in front of King’s home and he and his wife looked to see if anyone would ride the bus. King saw no more than eight African American passengers on the buses. They later created the Montgomery Improvement Association to keep the movement going. King became the president of the new organization by a unanimous vote. King almost became the president of the local chapter of the NAACP but did not run so to give more attention to church work. This decision not to become the president of the local chapter of the NAACP allowed King to become the president of the MIA. King later gave his first publicly broadcasted speech and only obtained twenty minutes to prepare it. He processed no notes during his speech and told of Rosa Parks and the injustices of Black citizens faced on the city buses