MARTIN LUTHER KING’S CHILDHOOD

Martin was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. His birth name was Michael
King, Jr., named after his father. Later, when he was about 5 years old, he and his father had
their names changed to Martin Luther. Martin had an older sister named Christine and a
younger brother named Alfred Daniel (called A.D.). Because Martin and his father shared the
same name, everyone called Martin Jr. “M.L.”. Martin was born in the family home at 501
Auburn Avenue. The family home is now a National Historic Site and is open to the public.
Martin shared a bedroom with A.D. and there was a big backyard for the children to play in.
Martin’s mother was named Alberta. Alberta’s father (Martin’s grandfather) was a
Reverend at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Martin Sr. was the assistant pastor. The King
family was very religious, and later, Martin became a Reverend too.
There were two important incidents that happened to Martin when he was a young boy
that made a lasting impression on him. The first one happened when he was just five years old.
Up until that time, Martin spent much of his free time playing with two boys who lived across the
street from him. Martin’s two friends were white. When Martin was growing up, white and black
people rarely spent time together. In fact, this was against the law in the southern part of
America, such as Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. White and black children had to go to
separate schools. They could not play in the park together, go to the library on the same days,
or even drink from the same water fountains. This separate way of life was called
SEGREGATION and the laws that enforced segregation were called JIM CROW LAWS. White
and black children were sometimes allowed to play together before they were old enough to go
to school.
Just when Martin turned five years old, and was able to go to the Negro school (“Negro”
and “colored” were names used to refer to African-American or black people), his white friends’
mother told him that he could no longer play with her sons. Of course, Martin was very upset
and did not understand why. He asked his mother to explain to him what had happened. His
mother spent a lot of time explaining to Martin about segregation and Jim Crow laws. She also
told him that he would make new friends at school, but in the meantime, he could play with
Christine and A.D. Most importantly, Martin’s mother told him that segregation did not make
anyone better than anyone else, and to remember that he was as good a person as anyone.
Another life changing experience occurred one day when Martin was out shopping with
his father. Martin needed a new pair of shoes. He and his father went into the shoe store and
sat down. The white salesman told them that they could not sit there, and that Martin and his
father would have to sit in the back of the store. Martin’s father told the salesman that he could
either let them try on the shoes where they were sitting in the front of the store, or they would
not buy shoes at his store. When the salesman told them to move again, Martin. Sr. took his son
by the hand and they left the store. He told his son Martin that he would never accept
segregation.
These experiences helped Martin see that the way people treated each other had a
great effect on how they felt on the inside. Martin did not like the way segregation made him
feel. And one day, he would have the chance to change this!

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