Willingboro Township Public Schools

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time in that part of the country, segregation—or the separation of races in places like schools, buses, and restaurants—was the law. He experienced racial prejudice from the time he was very young, which inspired him to dedicate his life to achieving equality and justice for Americans of all colors. Dr. King believed that peaceful refusal to obey unjust law was the best way to bring about social change. He used the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance, such as protests, grassroots organizing, and civil disobedience to achieve seemingly-impossible goals. Dr. King. was arrested several times during his lifetime. On August 28, 1963, Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech to a group of civil rights marchers around the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. In 1964, at 35 years old, Dr. King became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize.