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Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the “gateway to the South.” Later, when he was an adult, he remembered what he had seen of poverty.
When he was grown, he wrote that he came from a family “where love was central and where lovely relationships were ever present.” He could never remember his parents fighting, and he was surrounded by people with deep religious beliefs and a profound sense of human dignity. His father was pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and his mother had been a teacher. Her father had been pastor of Ebenezer before his death. Martin had an older sister, Christine, and a younger brother, A.D.
Martin grew up during the Depression, a time when many were without jobs and had to struggle to make a living. His family wasn’t wealthy, but they were comfortable and had enough to eat. When he was just five years old, he asked his parents why he saw so many people standing in lines waiting to get food. Later, when he was an adult, he remembered what he had seen of poverty.
