Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is known for being a martyr in the Civil Rights movement. He’s done a lot to help bring people together. However, there are some little-known facts about MLK, Jr. Here are some facts you may not know about the Reverend.
Working at a Tobacco Farm Opened His Eyes to Racial Equality
MLK, Jr was raised in the deep south, which meant he saw tons of racism growing up. As a teenager, he spent summers near Hartford, CT where he worked harvesting tobacco. He wrote to his father saying that he’d never white people treat black people so fairly. He mentioned to his mother that he ate at the finest restaurant in Hartford and watched shows.
He Was Smoking a Cigarette When He Was Shot
While people knew him to be a regular smoker, you didn’t catch him on camera doing it very much. Of course, him being a minister didn’t help either. He often kept it away from the public eye. When he died, Rev. Kyles allegedly removed the pack of cigarettes from his pocket to keep people from knowing he was smoking when he was shot dead.
He Went to College at 15
Harvard graduate and musician, Ryan Leslie, wasn’t the only child prodigy to go to college at 15. King did really well in school to the point where he skipped grades 9 and 12. Morehouse College accepted him at age 15. He received a degree in sociology and obtained a second bachelor’s in divinity from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA. By the time MLK, Jr was 25, he got his Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University. He was on it early!
He Was Arrested 29 Times
He mainly went to jail for civil disobedience and other “fake” charges. One of them included going just 5 miles over the speed limit.
He Loved Star Trek
He was a Trekkie back in those days. He encouraged Nichelle Nichols to stay on after the first season. Star Trek was a show that showed more equality and Nichols had a powerful role being a black woman on such a big sci-fi show. Her role was one with intelligence and showed the depth of how black people could play diverse characters.
