Family Tree Tuesday – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yesterday the U.S. celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Observed on the third Monday of January each year, the holiday honors and remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an iconic figure and leading activists of the United States Civil Rights Movement. King used nonviolent methods to successfully protest racial discrimination in federal and state law. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial discrimination through civil disobedience and nonviolent protests.

During the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, King gave his most famous speech known as the “I Have a Dream” speech. In his speech, King called for an end to racial segregation and discrimination. The March, and especially King’s speech, helped put civil rights at the very top of the liberal political agenda in the United States and facilitated the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

After King’s assassination in 1968, his wife, Coretta Scott King, continued her husband’s work in the struggle for racial equality. All four of  their children, Yolanda King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King and Bernice King, would later follow in their parents’ footsteps as civil rights activists.

Several other members of King’s family have also contributed to civil rights activism in the U.S. Check them out in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s tree on Geni!