Chapter 1: Early Years, Chapter 2: Morehouse College Summary and Analysis

Martin Luther King, Jr. is born in the late 1920s. He does not remember the Depression, but only has vague memories of standing in bread lines. He is born and grows up in Atlanta and his family is a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church, of which King becomes co-pastor. He goes to public school and ends up in Booker T. Washington High School. King's community is black, religious and lower-middle class. No one is rich or particularly poor, and King is always healthy, mentally and physically. King's parents are kind and loving, which makes it easier for him to understand the love of God.

Albert Williams King is Martin's mother; she is a preacher's daughter, grows up in comfort and goes to college. She is the one who explains segregation to...