Martin Luther King Jr. was born Michael King Jr. in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia to Pastor Michael King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. His father stepped in as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1931 and adopted the name Martin Luther King Sr. which young Michael would adopt himself in honor of Protestant religious leader Martin Luther. Martin Luther King Jr. would later attend Morehouse College and seminary at the Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. He soon married Coretta Scott in 1953 and had four children, Yolanda, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott, and Bernice. Dr. King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church of Montgomery, Alabama and completed his Ph.D in 1955 at the age of 25. Soon after Rosa Parks was arrested and released in 1955, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other local civil rights leaders planned a citywide bus boycott with King leading due to his professional standing and solid family connections. In his first speech, King dec...
Law reVIEW is a blog series dedicated to investigating and reviewing both popular and documentary films in the Chastek Library film collection. E RIN BROCKOVICH (2000) Julia Roberts stars in this hugely popular dramatized biographical film portrayal of the life of single mom, legal clerk, and activist, Erin Brockovich. Supported by the wonderful Albert Finney as attorney Ed Masry, this film tells the tale of the 1996 Anderson, et al. v. Pacific Gas and Electric arbitration that became what was then the largest direct action settlement in U.S. history. Beginning in 1992, Brockovich, with Masry's expertise and support, builds a case against the utility giant upon discovering evidence that PG&E covered-up their role in contaminating Hinkley, California's water supply with cancer-causing hexavalent chromium decades before through their use of unlined wastewater disposal ponds. Erin Brockovich currently holds an 84% on Rotten Tomato...
The Real Dream and Lesser Known MLK Quotes by Sloan Nickel, JD Candidate, Class of 2023 Most people remember Martin Luther King Jr. for his peaceful protests, beautiful sermons about religion and equality, and of course, his dream for what this nation could one day be. However, it would be dismissive to not categorize Dr. King for what he was: a revolutionary inciting quick action. On August 28, 1963, in front of nearly 250,000 people spread across the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Baptist preacher and civil rights leader delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The speech comes with many quote-able moments, but the more sobering statements he made throughout his life often do not get as much attention, though they speak more to what Dr. King believed about America. For example, Dr. King noted no one was excused from working for justice, saying, "Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that...