American clergyman and Nobel laureate, one of the principal leaders of the American civil rights movement and a prominent advocate of nonviolent resistance to racial oppression.
Education and Early Life
King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15,
1929, the eldest son of Martin Luther King, Sr., a Baptist minister,
and Alberta Williams King. He entered Morehouse College at the
age of 15 and was ordained a Baptist minister at the age of 17.
Graduating from Crozer Theological Seminary as class president
in 1951, he then did postgraduate work at Boston University.