The following biography is one in a series of "My Hero Essays" written by students at Miami Lakes Middle School. Special thanks to teacher and web mentor Lottie Simms, Mrs. Ball, band director, and Mrs. Mayland, computer education teacher.

by Anthony M. and Tony J.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929. He was the eldest child of Martin Luther King Sr. , who was a Baptist minister, and Alberta Williams King. Martin Luther King Jr. also became a Baptist minister at the age of 17. In 1951, he graduated from Cozer Theological College as class president.

The reason that we chose King as our hero is because of his courage and skill to talk to the world. King got most of his ideas from Mohandes K. Ghandi. Ghandi's philosophy was to protest without violence. King wanted blacks and whites to get along together and live in happiness. King got involved in many other boycotts after his marriage to Coretta Scott and the births of their four children. His most famous speech was called "I Have a Dream." In this speech he talked about his dream for blacks and whites to get together and live in peace. As sad as it may sound, he was shot on his hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1969, at the early age of 39. Therefore, we chose Martin Luther King, Jr. because of his hard and helpful work.