Martin Luther King Jr.'s Childhood

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Raised in a deeply religious household, he experienced the harsh realities of segregation from an early age. Despite facing racial discrimination, he excelled academically and developed a strong sense of justice and equality.

His parents, particularly his father, Reverend Martin Luther King Sr., played a crucial role in shaping his moral and spiritual foundation. He attended segregated schools but showed remarkable intelligence, skipping two grades and enrolling in college at just 15 years old. His early years instilled in him a desire to fight for racial equality.

King’s childhood experiences with racism, such as a close white friend being forbidden from playing with him due to segregation, deeply affected him. These early injustices planted the seeds for his later activism, fueling his commitment to social change and nonviolent resistance.