Did You Know Martin Luther King Jr. Was Not His Birth Name?
Today (1/15) we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The slain civil rights leader would have been 95 this year. The work he did to help the oppressed victims of discrimination in our country has been well documented. However, here’s something you might not know about the late Dr. King: Martin Luther was not his birth name.
According to the Boston Herald, the man we know as Martin Luther King Jr. was actually born Michael King Jr. on January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. That’s where his father, Michael King Sr., served as a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church. You can still visit the church to this day.
In 1934, when young MLK was just five years old, Michael Sr. traveled to Germany on a church trip. There, he was inspired by the great Protestant Reformation leader, Martin Luther. Upon returning home, King Sr. changed both his and his son’s names to Martin Luther King.
Speaking of MLK, have you seen the film Rustin on Netflix? My wife and I watched it earlier this month and we’re still talking about it. The film tells the story of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who organized the March on Washington in 1963 despite difficult odds. Over 200,000 people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where they heard Dr. King give his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. Starring Colman Domingo and Chris Rock, Rustin is a fascinating look at a peak moment of the civil rights movement.
