(A hard copy can be found in the MLK Challenge toolkit.)

When is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday?
January 15, 1929.

MLK's father was the pastor of which church in Atlanta, GA?
He was pastor of Ebeneezer Baptist Church, following his own father. MLK's mother was a preacher's daughter & because of these influences, he felt the call to ministry while at Morehouse College. When he was just 18, he became assistant pastor of his father's church.

How old was MLK when he graduated from high school?
15. MLK then attended Morehouse College in Atlanta graduating when he was 19. It was here that MLK developed a lot of his ideas on nonviolence and also became attracted to working in the ministry.

While at seminary, MLK became very attracted to the nonviolent methods of what important man?
Mahatma Gandhi. MLK wrote in Stride Toward Freedom, "Gandhi was probably the first person in history to life the love ethic of Jesus above mere interaction between individuals to a powerful and effective social force on a large scale. It was in this Gandhian emphasis on love and nonviolence that I discovered the method for social reform that I had been seeking for so many months."

MLK was elected the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which helped to coordinate what important movement in Alabama?
The Montgomery Bus Boycott. During the boycott, which lasted for over a year; fifty thousand African Americans in Montgomery walked and carpooled to many places. After the town's white leadership noticed the effect, they began arresting the boycotters for whatever reason they could find. MLK was arrested for going 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. Finally, on December 21, 1956, Montgomery's buses were integrated.

MLK was not only involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He was also an outspoken advocate against which war?
Vietnam. He once said "I'm not going to sit by and see war escalated without saying anything about it. It is worthless to talk about integration if there is no world to integrate. The war in Vietnam must be stopped." MLK became the co-chair of Clergy & Laymen Concerned about Vietnam in 1966.

MLK became the leader of what theological organization?
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). SCLC was based in Atlanta and was a Christian organization that promoted nonviolence and civil disobedience of unjust laws.

What famous letter did Dr. King write on April 16, 1963?
Letter from a Birmingham Jail. MLK wrote this while confined in a Birmingham, Alabama jail and responded to the Civil Rights issues that he was working towards.

What famous speech did MLK deliver from the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963?
The "I Have a Dream" speech. Over 250,000 people from all over the country attended the rally in Washington, D.C. After the rally, President John F. Kennedy met with the leaders of the march. Writing about that day, MLK stated, "As television beamed the image of this extraordinary gathering across the border oceans, everyone who believed in man's capacity to better himself had a moment of inspiration and confidence in the future of the human race. And every dedicated American could be proud that a dynamic experience of democracy in his nation's capital has been made visible to the world."

In 1964, MLK was awarded what very important honor?
The Nobel Peace Prize. He was awarded the prize not only for his involvement in civil rights, but because he contributed to peace all over the world. Instead of keeping the $54,123 in prize money, MLK divided it among the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women, and the American Foundation of Nonviolence.

In what city was MLK assassinated?
Memphis, TN. MLK, only 39 years old, was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968. He was in Memphis to lead 6,000 sanitation workers who were on strike. Over 200,000 mourners followed his coffin in Atlanta. Robert F. Kennedy delivered a eulogy at a rally for civil rights after hearing that King had been assassinated.