Martin Luther King Jr. Playground

Dumont Ave., Blake Ave. bet. Bradford St. and Miller Ave.

Brooklyn

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was a pivotal figure in the civil rights movement who became famous in the 1950s and 1960s for his advocacy of nonviolent resistance in the struggle against racism. Descended from a long line of ministers, King was a child prodigy who entered Morehouse College at 15 and was ordained a minister of the Baptist Church four years later. As pastor of the Dexter Avenue Church in Montgomery, Alabama, King earned a reputation as an eloquent and committed opponent of intolerance. He was elected President of the Montgomery Improvement Association and led the successful Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 to 1956.