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KOLUMN Magazine

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Historically Black College & University, HBCU, Langston University, Black Girls Code, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, DEI, Critical Race Theory, CRT, African American News, Black News, Urban News, African American Newspaper, Black Newspaper, African American Magazine, Black Magazine, African American History, Black History, African American Wealth, Black Wealth, African American Health, Black Health, African American Economics, Black Economics, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN Books, KINDR'D Magazine, Black Lives, Black Lives Matter, African American Art, Black Art, African American Politics, Black Politics, African American City, Black City, African American People, Black People, Allegory, Segregation, Racism, Reparations, 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Photo, Courtesy of McCrear Family

THE STORY OF HOW MICHAEL KING JR. BECAME MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

On his 90th birthday, a look at the civil rights leader’s childhood name change
Martin Luther King Jr. was born 90 years ago, on Jan. 15, 1929.
But the name on his original birth certificate — filed April 12, 1934, five years after King was born — was not Martin. Nor was it Luther. In fact, for the first years of his life, he was Michael King. And it wasn’t until he was 28 that, on July 23, 1957, his birth certificate was revised.
The name Michael was crossed out, next to which someone printed carefully in black ink: “Martin Luther, Jr.”
The story of how Michael became Martin began in 1934 when King’s father, who then was known as the Rev. Michael King or M.L. King, was senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church and a prominent minister in Atlanta. In the summer of 1934, King’s church sent him on a whirlwind trip. He traveled to Rome, Tunisia, Egypt, Jerusalem and Bethlehem before setting sail to Berlin, where he would attend a Baptist World Alliance meeting, according to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

Celebrating Our Lives