Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was an American civil rights leader and Baptist minister who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the son of the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where he eventually succeeded his father as pastor. King attended Morehouse College, a historically black college, and then went on to earn a doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University. King was an early advocate of nonviolent resistance to racial discrimination. He organized and led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, which led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregated public transportation was unconstitutional. He also helped organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, a group of African-American ministers and civil rights activists that sought to end racial segregation and discrimination through nonviolent protest. In 1963, King organized and led the March on Washington, a massive protest in the nation's capital that called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. His famous "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered at the march, became one of the most iconic moments of the civil rights movement. In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through nonviolent means. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.
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