The Early Life and Family Background of Martin Luther King Jr. (Essay Sample)

Martin Luther King Jr.
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The Early Life of Martin Luther King Jr. and Family Background
On 15th of January 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born as Michael King Jr. to Michael King Sr. and Alberta Williams. His family had roots in rural Georgia where his grandfather ministered a couple of years before relocating to Atlanta in 1893. Martin Luther senior originated from a peasant farming community. He married Alberta in 1926 then moved to Atlanta. Martin Sr. stepped in his father-in –law’s shoes after his death in 1931.He became a successful pastor and minister of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He eventually adopted Martin Luther King as his new name in honor of a German Protestant religious leader Martin Luther. Michael Jr. followed his father’s lead and adopted the name Martin Luther King Jr. too.
King Junior was the middle child in the family. Willie Christine was his elder sister and Alfred Williams King as the younger brother. They grew up in a conducive environment with loving parents. The main challenge King Sr. faced was to completely shield his children from racism. Martin Sr. relentlessly fought against racial prejudice because he considered it as a confrontation to God’s will. He strongly enlightened his children against embracing the sense of class superiority something that had a long lasting impact on Martin Jr. Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, King enrolled at a public school at five years of age. He got baptized in 1936 though it mattered little to him.
In 1941, at the age of 12, King lost his grandmother, Jennie who succumbed to heart attack. The event was so much traumatizing to King such that the young man attempted to commit suicide by jumping from a second-story building, distraught by the news of his grandmother’s demise. He proceeded to Booker T Washington for high school. King was said to be a precocious student. He joined Morehouse College of Atlanta in 1944 at a tender age of 15 years. He was a famous student especially among the female counterparts but was much unmotivated throughout the course of his two first years. Despite King hailing from a family rooted in religion and church, he questioned religion and