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The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. . By: Shayne Ruse. King’s early life. Born on January 15 th 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia He was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin . attended segregated public schools in Georgia,

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The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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  1. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. By: Shayne Ruse

  2. King’s early life • Born on January 15th 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia • He was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. • attended segregated public schools in Georgia, • graduating from high school at the age of fifteen • grew up in the church and was well-read in the scripture. • Followed family tradition and wanted to be a minister

  3. Family • Father: Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. • Mother: Alberta Williams King • Grandparents: Adam Daniel Williams and Jenny Parks Williams • Wife: Coretta Scott Together they had 4 children 1.Yolanda Denise 2.Martin Luther III 3.Dexter Scott 4.Bernice Albertine

  4. Education • Graduated High School at age 15 • First he entered Morehouse College at the age of 15 and graduated in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology. (19) • Then he enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania where he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity Degree in 1951.(22) • He received a Doctorate of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Boston University on June 5, 1955. (25)

  5. Religious service • Father and Grandfather were both Ministers • King began his ministry in 1954 as the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. • Religious tries strongly connected him to his ideal of non-violent protest.

  6. Montgomery Bus Boycott • December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks took a stand for her race by refusing to give her seat to a white person. (According to the books) • in December 1955 he along with NAACP led a 382-day boycott of Montgomery’s segregated public bus system. • On December 21, 1956, the Supreme Court had declared the laws requiring segregation on buses unconstitutional

  7. Southern Christian Leadership Conference • Formed in 1957, with MLK as it’s leader • MLK gave over 2,500 times. About 250 a year. • Made many movements in many different cities. • Cities such as Albany, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama were he was arrested. • It was at this time that he wrote “The letter from Birmingham Jail.

  8. March on Washington • August 28, 1963 • Dr. King represented the SCLC. • Dr. King delivered his most famous speech, from the steps of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial. Excerpt: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal’ … I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

  9. Nobel Peace Prize • Time magazine selected Martin Luther King, Jr., as its Man of the Year for 1963. • Nobel Prize Committee in Stockholm, Sweden, awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize. • The reward of over $54,000, he donated to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

  10. MLK Assassination

  11. MLK Assassination • On March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black sanitary public works employees. • He got there late because his plane had a bomb threat scare. • King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis, he roomed with Ralph Abernathy (leader of American Civil Rights Movement)

  12. MLK Assassination • at 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968, a shot rang out as King stood on the motel's second-floor balcony • The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. • Abernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find MLK on the floor.

  13. MLK Assassination • King was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m. • His last words were to Ben Branch. He was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty.“ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNrVed6dP6s

  14. Aftermath • Nationwide race riots in Washington D.C., Chicago, Baltimore, Louisville, Kansas City, and dozens of other cities. • Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy gave a short speech asking people to keep Dr. Kings ideal of non-violent protests. • President Lyndon B. Johnson declared April 7 a national day for mourning MLK. • Personal friend MahaliaJackson sang 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' at MLK’s funeral.

  15. James Earl Ray • Two months after King's death, escaped convict James Earl Ray was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd. • He was extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. • He confessed on March 10, 1969, though he denied the confession three days later.

  16. James Earl Ray • Ray much like Oswald said that he was a patsy. • Ray had been convicted of burglary and theft. However he was never charged with using a weapon. • Ray (from the advice of his attorney) took a guilty plea to avoid the death sentence. Ray was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.

  17. James Earl Ray • In 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and helped Ray's efforts to obtain a new trial. • The King family strongly believes that James Earl Ray had nothing to do with the assassination. • Dr. William Pepper represented Ray and the King family.

  18. Conspiracy Theories

  19. The Memphis Bar Man • Lloyd Jowers • he was a Memphis bar owner ran Jim's Grill, located across the street from the Lorraine Motel. • He claimed in 1993 that a Memphis dealer, Frank Libertogave him $100,000 to hire a hit man to murder King—and the killer he hired wasn't Ray.

  20. Government Conspiracy • Ray was set up by the U.S. government, who had hired a Mafia hit man to kill King. • Team of green beret snipers were close, to finish the job if the hit man missed. • commando in charge of the Green Beret snipers, Billy Eidson, was killed shortly after as a way to keep the plot a secret. • Dexter King publicly stated that he felt the government and LBJ were directly involved in his fathers death.

  21. Questions?

  22. Works Cited • http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html • http://www.historynet.com/martin-luther-king-jr • http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mlk1.html • http://history1900s.about.com/cs/martinlutherking/a/mlkassass.htm • http://www.historynet.com/martin-luther-king-jr

  23. Works Cited • http://www.thekingcenter.org/about-dr-king • http://www.nps.gov/malu/index.htm • http://www.martinlutherking.org/ • http://www.kinginstitute.info/

  24. FIN! FIN! Fin!

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