RAHWAY, NJ — Rahway Senior Center recently had a seminar on Martin Luther King Jr.
“The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.” was presented by Isabella Sangaline, an educator at the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts in Madison.
Prior to the seminar, Mayor Raymond A. Giacobbe Jr. talked a bit about King’s vision. He said, “There is a lot more that brings us together than separates us.”
Sangaline spoke about King’s prominent leadership in the civil rights movement.
He was born on Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to a middle-class family. He had two siblings, a sister and a brother. King was a gifted student who skipped grades nine and 11. He graduated from Morehouse College in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and, in 1951, he began doctoral studies in systemic theology in Boston University. He became a pastor at the age of 25 in 1954 at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
King acquainted himself with Ghandi’s philosophy of non-violence. He connected Jesus Christ to his work. In June 1953, he married Coretta Scott, who was an activist in her own right.
In March 1955, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat to a white person on a bus. The same year, Rosa Parks did the same thing. In November 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ended Montgomery bus segregation.
King had said, “We have no alternative but to protest. For many years, we’ve shown amazing patience.”
After several arrests, King admitted he was tired of marching and tired of going to jail. He said, “The Holy Spirit restores my faith again.”
The 1963 March on Washington is when King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. And in 1964, he was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was landmark U.S. legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, ending segregation in public places such as restaurants, theaters, hotels and public education, prohibiting employment discrimination and preventing discrimination in federally funded programs. It was a monumental achievement signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Other issues King was against included the Vietnam War. He had a speech called “Beyond Vietnam.” He wanted the United States to call a truce. He called the war “one of the most unjust wars.”
He was also against nuclear weapons and poverty. King stated, “You can’t just fight for one issue. They’re all connected.”
King was assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. The photo of his wife, Coretta, crying at his funeral was on the cover of Time magazine.
Photos by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
