Facts about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for Kids

[Music] today we are going to learn about Martin Luther King jr. and you might be thinking I recognize that name I've seen that name on a road or on a bridge or on a statue well there's an important reason for that Martin Luther King jr. changed the course of American history and there's so much that we can learn by looking at his life and so that's what we're going to do in this video Martin Luther King jr. was a minister who became the leader of the civil rights movement he fought for the equal rights of African Americans who were so poorly treated in his day through segregation and discrimination he believed in equality that America should be fair to everyone regardless of their race okay we hope you're ready let's learn about his life here is where our story begins Martin Luther King jr. was born on january 15 1929 in Atlanta Georgia this is obviously a picture of him when he was a young boy we didn't have any baby pictures so this is this is as close as we're gonna get okay that would be cool we had baby pictures of Martin Luther King jr. we just don't so here's a picture of him as a young man who's born 1929 in Atlanta Georgia now this is very interesting it's something that a lot of people don't know at Birth he was given the name Michael King jr. he was named after his father so when he was born his name was Michael King jr. that's pretty fascinating alright so when did his name change when did he change his name from Michael King jr. to Martin Luther King jr. those names are really different well there's a really cool story behind that name change well Martin Luther King Jr's dad was a Christian minister and his faith was very very important in in 1934 Martin Luther King Jr's dad went to Germany for an important religious meeting the trip inspired him greatly and one of the heroes of the Christian faith a man named Martin Luther was the inspiration behind the name change Martin Luther King's dad changed both his name and young Michael King Jr's name as well so he became known as Martin Luther King jr. the same as we know him today he was named after the Christian reformer Martin Luther there was Martin Luther King Jr's family growing up here's his father Martin Luther King's senior his mother her name was Alberta his grandmother Jenny his little brother Alfred his big sister Christine and of course here is Martin Luther King jr. as a kid and this is his family isn't that amazing now this is cool young Martin loved to sing his mother was a choir director and would have Martin travel with her and sing he was very gifted do you enjoy music and do you enjoy singing okay the King family lived in this home Martin learned from a young age about faith and standing up for what you believe in it was in this house that Martin grew up and learned all the values he carried throughout his life then as a teenager Martin attended Booker T Washington High School he was known for being a gifted speaker and was part of the school's debate team he was so gifted that in his junior year he won a speech contest in Dublin Georgia but on his way back to Atlanta he was forced to stand up during the bus ride just because he was an african-american it was so unfair he later said it was the angriest he had ever been you see African Americans suffered discrimination they were treated poorly simply because of the color of their skin and if that sounds really unfair that's because it is this man and this boy they're having to stand during the bus ride and it's not fair and this is something that needed to change because discrimination is wrong part of the discrimination against African Americans with something called segregation segregation means separated by race when Martin Luther King jr. was growing up this was a big part of the culture African Americans had to use their own schools their own trains their own theaters sometimes even their own hospitals their own restrooms there are libraries their own lunch counters all kinds of things and it was not fair because the ones they had to use were usually not as nice and the only reason they weren't allowed to use the other one was because of their race now after high school Martin Luther King jr. continued his education getting degrees at Morehouse College Crozer Theological Seminary and finally getting his doctorate at Boston University he studied to be a minister [Music] a doctorate also known as a PhD is the highest educational degree you can receive that means Martin Luther King jr. got the highest educational degree you can possibly receive that is so incredible he loved education his formal title became dr. Martin Luther King jr. and even though doctors in front of his name it doesn't mean that he was a medical doctor it means that he got his doctorate or his PhD and for the rest of this video we're going to be simply shortening that to dr. King it was around this time that dr. King started his own family marrying Coretta Scott and having their first child the same year he received his doctorate the King family had four children yeah dr. King had four kids and this is awesome after he got his doctorate dr. King began his life's work of fighting for equality dr. King was inspired by the example of Mahatma Gandhi you can see him right here Mahatma Gandhi was a civil rights leader who lived here in the country of India Gandhi used peaceful protests to fight against discrimination and that's exactly what dr. King wanted to do to dr. King led marches and protests he made speeches and showed that change can happen without violence there are peaceful ways to show that discrimination is wrong dr. King was arrested 29 times while fighting for equality even when people mistreated him he refused to give up he knew he was doing the right thing and he wasn't afraid to suffer for doing the right thing to stop discrimination now during this time dr. King gave many speeches but in 1963 he gave his most famous speech he gave the speech on August 28 1963 during the march on Washington in front of 250,000 people that's a lot of people the speech was later called I have a dream so if you ever hear that phrase I have a dream think of dr. King it comes from dr. King's speech I have a dream the speech shares the dream and vision that dr. King had for an America where all people were treated with equality and respect it is considered one of the greatest speeches in American history I have a dream and think back to when he was in high school when he was making speeches and he won that contest in Dublin and then on his way back being so mistreated and getting upset about that and later on in life being able to make a speech in front of 250,000 people with the message of treating people with equality and with respect and one of the greatest speeches in American history it's absolutely incredible [Music] then in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was cited right there you could see dr. King was right there when it was signed and it made discrimination and segregation illegal in the eyes of the law the civil rights movement that dr. King led did what so many people thought it never could do they changed the law of the land to make it more equal and to make it more fair then in 1964 just months after the Civil Rights Act passed dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize becoming the youngest winner ever he was only 35 years old dr. King continued making speeches and holding protests the Civil Rights Act was only the beginning but on April 4th 1968 while staying in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee dr. King was shot and killed by someone who was trying to stop his message he literally gave it all his whole life was given to the cause of equality and ending discrimination and segregation dr. King had made the ultimate sacrifice the man that killed dr. King tried to stop his message but dr. King's message could not be stopped this was just the beginning you see dr. King's life and mission has inspired countless millions of people and this is awesome the Lorraine Motel was later transformed into the National Civil Rights Museum a place that you can visit and learn even more about the message of equality and civil rights [Music] it's incredible dr. King's legacy of racial equality and justice continues to this day and this is awesome he has his own holiday since 1986 every third Monday in January is Martin Luther King jr. Day we celebrate the life and legacy of a man who gave it all to fight for racial equality and this is amazing in 2011 a memorial was finished in Washington DC honoring dr. King and this memorial is not far from where he gave his speech I have a dream back in 1963 that is the life and the legacy of dr. Martin Luther King jr. a man who changed the course of American history whose legacy of equality continues to this day thanks for watching this home school pop video on dr. Martin Luther King jr. we hope you learned a lot of new things that you could share with others and that you feel inspired and motivated to make a positive difference in other people's lives too we hope to see you next video [Music] thanks for hanging out with us you are awesome in the middle of the screen you can see there's a button you can click to subscribe to our channel or you can click one of these two boxes to watch a different video but don't stop learning now go ahead click you

Channel: Homeschool Pop

Views: 94,337

Rating: 4.6606293 out of 5

Keywords: facts about martin luther king jr, facts about martin luther king, facts about dr. king, martin luther king jr facts, martin luther king facts, dr. king facts, martin luther king jr. for kids

Id: eXgi6ywTqzU

Length: 14min 53sec (893 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 12 2018