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Zero chaos. Call it compliance or call it compliance. Get it join the 15,000 companies using Vanta to prove trust. Go to vanta.com calm. It is April 17, 1944, and a high school student is standing at the pulpit of the First African Baptist Church in Dublin, Georgia. A modest red brick building, it is packed for today's high school oratorical contest. Though he's not physically imposing, he carries himself with a confidence beyond his 15 years. He grew up singing as a soloist in his mother's choir, and he's been watching his father, a pastor, speak to the congregation for as long as he can remember. Performance is in his blood. As he speaks, his audience hang onto his every word. It's clear the content is deeply important to him. Titled the Negro and the Constitution, his speech argues that the promises of freedom and equality enshrined in the US Constitution are not being fulfilled for African Americans. Black Americans today, he says, are still bound by shackles. Looking out at the packed pews, he catches the eye of his teacher, Sarah Grace Bradley, who gives him an encouraging nod. The teenager concludes his speech on an optimistic note, sharing his dream of a world where black people can stand shoulder to shoulder with white a better, fairer world. At the uplifting conclusion, his audience leaps to their feet in uproarious applause. Even so, he doesn't win the speaking contest, but he's still buzzing from the experience as he heads home with Ms. Bradley and another student from his high school. The three of them step out of the crowded church to make their way to the nearest bus stop to start the long trek back to Atlanta. They pass through the quiet African American neighborhood where the church is the center of the community. Here, the low rise homes are far more modest than the grand historic houses occupied by white families. A stone's throw away With a journey of some 140 miles ahead of them, they're pleased to see the bus when it finally arrives. It's not too full, so they start off sitting together, chatting happily about the day when the bus stops. About 80 miles from Atlanta. More people embark. A cluster of white passengers approaches the group to claim their seats from them. It's the usual way of things in America's racially segregated South. The two students exchange a look with Ms. Bradley, who stands swiftly but the pastor's son is reluctant to give up his seat. His hesitancy angers the driver, who curses loudly and orders them to move more quickly. After the high of the contest, it's a humiliating comedown. The boy, whose name is Martin Luther King Jr. Stands for the rest of the journey shaking with rage. He's experienced racism many times before, of course, but something about this incident makes him determined to change things. Those in attendance at the church that day had no idea that they were witnessing the first public speech of a boy who would arguably become America's greatest ever orator. A pivotal figure in the American civil rights movement, King's leadership played a crucial role in challenging racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. His speeches inspired millions and galvanized support for racial equality and justice. And his work led to significant victories, including the Civil Rights act of 1964 and the Voting Rights act of 1965. Even so, his message of egalitarianism and advocacy of non violent protest was met by many with opposition and rage. But what set him upon the path that would change the lives of millions? Why did the FBI begin its covert campaign of surveillance against him? And what, in a world still riddled with racial bias, is his legacy today? I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Network. This is a short history of Martin Luther King, Jr. On January 15, 1929, in a house on Auburn Avenue, Atlanta, a baby boy is born to the preacher Michael King and his wife Alberta. But though the world will one day know him by a different name, the infant is initially called Michael, after his father. He is known to his loved ones as little Mike, the middle child between older sister Christine and younger brother Alfred Daniel, known as AD. The neighborhood of Sweet Auburn is a place where black businesses flourish and the inhabitants feel relatively safe. Atlanta, like much of the American south, is segregated under Jim Crow laws, a collection of state and local statutes that legalize racial segregation in schools, public facilities, transport and housing. African Americans throughout the city and the south in general face systemic discrimination and pervasive social inequalities. In 1931, Michael King Sr. Takes over from his father in law as pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Sweet Auburn. Little Mike grows up listening to his father's resounding sermons. During a trip to Germany in 1934, King Sr. Learns more about the Protestant Reformation leader, Martin Luther. Inspired by his teachings on equality and justice, he changes his own name and that of his oldest son to Martin Luther King. King Sr. Remains an influential figure throughout Junior's life. An imposing, disciplined person, he physically punishes his children. But though his eldest son receives his own beatings without tears, he hates it when his father orders him to spank or whip his siblings. It is perhaps Alberta, his mother, who is responsible for little Mike's sweetness and patience, as well as his deep love of reading and of music. But though the household is comfortably middle class, it doesn't take him long to learn that the world outside the family home is deeply unjust. Laron A. Martin is the Martin Luther King Jr. Centennial professor in Religious Studies and director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and education Institute at Stanford University.
