Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Martin Luther King, Junior (January 15 1929 – April 4 1968) was a famous American worker for human rights. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He became a Baptist minister. He worked hard to try and make people understand that black people in the USA should always be treated equal to white people. He gave speeches and led rallies. (A rally is when many people have a meeting to support their beliefs.)
He first began to be well-known in 1955 when he led a protest against the way black people were segregated on buses. That is they had to sit at the back of the bus separate from white people. He soon became world famous as he told his supporters, and the people who were against equal rights, that only peaceful ways should be used to solve the problem. In 1964 black people finally were allowed to vote in elections. In this year he was given the Nobel Peace Prize.
After this he continued to work with many others to fight against poverty and the Vietnam War. He was shot dead as he gave a speech in 1968. In 1986, the United States created a national holiday, commonly known as Martin Luther King Day, in his honor. It is celebrated on the first Monday of the month of January; around the time of his birthday. This was because people had campaigned (called for) this to happen. One of these people was the singer Stevie Wonder who wrote a song as part of the campaign. It was not until the 1990s that all 50 U.S. states had agreed to celebrate the same holiday.
