Martin Luther King Jr.

Hello, my name is Martin Luther King Jr., and I want to tell you my story. I was born on a chilly day, January 15, 1929, in a busy city called Atlanta, Georgia. My childhood home was full of love. I lived with my parents, my older sister Christine, and my younger brother Alfred Daniel. My father was a preacher at our church, and everyone in our community respected him. He taught me about kindness and standing up for what is right. But as I grew up, I started to notice things that felt very wrong. I would see signs that said 'Whites Only' on water fountains and in restaurants. It meant that because my skin was a different color, I wasn't allowed in certain places. I even had friends whose parents told them they couldn't play with me anymore. It was confusing and it hurt my heart. A big question started to grow inside of me: Why were things this way? It just didn't seem fair.

That question followed me as I grew older. I loved to read and learn, so I spent my time in school and later in college searching for answers. The more I learned about the world, the more I wanted to help change it. I decided to become a minister, just like my father, so I could help guide and support people. During my studies, I learned about an incredible leader from a country far away called India. His name was Mahatma Gandhi. He taught that you could fight against unfairness without ever using your fists or saying hurtful words. He called it 'nonviolent resistance.' His idea was powerful and inspiring. It was a way to be strong and peaceful at the same time. Around this time, I also met a wonderful woman named Coretta Scott, who had a beautiful voice and a strong spirit. We fell in love, got married, and started our family. My life's work truly began in 1955, when a brave woman named Rosa Parks was told to give up her seat on a bus to a white person, and she quietly said 'no.' The people of Montgomery, Alabama, decided to stop riding the buses to protest this unfair rule, and they asked me to help lead them in what became known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

That boycott was just the beginning of what we called the Civil Rights Movement. People all over the country joined together to demand equal rights for everyone. We organized peaceful marches and sit-ins to protest the unfair laws. It wasn't always easy. Sometimes people were angry with us, and it could be very scary, but we held onto our belief in peace. Our biggest moment came on a hot summer day in 1963. We organized a great March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. People of all races, thousands and thousands of them, traveled to our nation's capital to show their support. Standing in front of all those people, I shared my biggest hope for our country. It was a speech about my dream for the future. I dreamed of a day when my four little children would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I dreamed of a world where all people could live together in friendship and peace. The next year, in 1964, I was given a great honor called the Nobel Peace Prize for our work in trying to bring people together without violence.

My life ended suddenly in 1968. It was a deeply sad time for my family and for so many people who believed in our peaceful fight for fairness. But I want you to know something very important: when a person is gone, their dream doesn't have to be. The dream of a better world lived on. The peaceful protests we led helped to change the country. New laws, like the Civil Rights Act, were passed to make sure everyone had the same rights. My work was about planting a seed of hope, and that seed has continued to grow. Looking back, I see that the work of creating a kind and fair world belongs to everyone. You can help my dream live on every single day, just by treating all people with kindness, standing up for what is right, and remembering that love is the most powerful force for change in the world.