Martin Luther King

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia who became an advocate against discrimination based on race. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. On Dec. 31, 1955, he led the nonviolent boycott of city buses of Montgomery, Alabama, after Rosa Parks was arrested for not moving to the back of the bus.

Dr. King's most famous speech was "I Have a Dream," which he delivered to a huge crowd gathered in Washington, D.C., in 1964 to protest discrimination against African Americans. He also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Dr. King was assassinated by James Earl Ray in 1968.