Photos by Ralph Hernandez | The signal
Forty-seven years after his death, Martin Luther King’s fight for equality through nonviolence is still active today. The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change works to keep society fighting for what they believe in by continuing King’s philosophy of peaceful change.
The dream behind the center
The King Center was founded in 1968, just a few months after Dr. King was assassinated. Mrs. Coretta Scott King and Dr. Kings colleagues opened the center to educate people on tactics for making a difference through nonviolence. She wanted to be sure that Dr. King’s encouraging methods of boycotts and persuasive speeches would not be forgotten.
“The King Center is an independent nonprofit organization founded by Mrs. Coretta Scott King and a group of Dr. King’s close associates,” Steve Klein, Director of Communications said. “It is dedicated to educating people all over the world about Dr. King’s accomplishments to empower them to use his teachings to resolve disputes peacefully.”
The main goal of the center is to educate people from around the world on black history while promoting equality among all races. Through seeing King’s activist documents and family artifacts, the chance arises to make King’s vision for a better world a reality.
“We hope to once again provide fully-accredited internships for college students in the not too distant future,” Klein said. “We also have volunteer opportunities. The King Center provides a broad range of nonviolence education and training opportunities including workshops, forums and field trips (including tours).”
Aiming for Georgia’s youth
Georgia State students would gain from visiting the center to understand Atlanta’s civil rights history given that Dr. King was born here and lead his movement in Atlanta back in the 1960s. He left the powerful impression of transforming the segregation norms back then without affecting the lives of other negatively. This accomplishment and Atlanta/Georgia’s recognition of it has been noticed to an honorable extent.
“Klaus Nobel of the Nobel Peace Prize family visited The King Center to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s Nobel Peace Prize in 1964,” Klein said. “Mr. Nobel said that he had been all over the world commemorating Nobel Peace Prize winners and noticed that MLK has more streets, schools, hospitals, parks, and monuments named in his honor than any other Nobel Peace Prize recipients. That’s a legacy Georgians can be very proud of.”
There are plans for expansion for The King Center that will help spread the mission even further throughout the world.
“The King Center plans to increase our capacity, both on-site and through interactive digital media for educating people from all over the world. I want people to leave The King Center inspired and better informed about the unique and enduring power of Dr. King’s teachings to transform society in general and their communities in particular,” Klein said.
What lies within
The King Center features many displays that tell the story of his impactful journey as well as the history of his family. This allows guests to not only get a feel for Dr. King’s philosophical impact on our community but also to get the inspiration from his own life story.
“Dr. and Mrs. King’s gravesite, MLK’s birth home, the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King Room, the Gandhi Room and the Rosa Parks Room are exhibits seen throughout the center,” Klein said.
N.O.W encounter
This is a summer camp for youths to experience different ways to develop a better understanding of leadership skills and team-building. Their main goal is to turn each member into an inspired leader that has the potential to transform society for the better.
