By Mike Selby

Cranbrook Public Library

To help celebrate Black History Month, here are five little known facts about Martin Luther King Jr.

1) His name was originally Mike. He was christened Michael King Jr. when he was born on January 15, 1929. When his father changed his own name to Martin Luther King a few years later, he and his wife changed their son’s name as well. Martin Luther King Jr. was informally called Mike for well into his adulthood.

2) He improvised his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. While addressing a quarter-of-a-million people at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 (pictured above), King spoke from a text he prepared called ‘Normalcy, Never Again.’ Just as he was ending his speech, a woman in the crowd (gospel singer Mahalia Jackson) yelled “tell them about the dream Martin!” He then spontaneously delivered one of the most recognizable statements in history.

3) He excelled at pool. Having spent long evenings shooting pool while at college, King became something of a shark. He could still beat anyone who challenged him years later.

4) His mother was assassinated as well. While King himself was slain by a sniper’s bullet in 1968, his mother was gunned down while playing organ at her church in the summer of 1974. Her assailant believed that all black ministers were a menace to black people.

5) King thought Canada was Heaven. In an interview he gave the CBC in 1967, he stated “Canada is not merely a neighbour to negroes. Deep in our history of struggle for freedom, Canada was the North Star. The freedom road links us together. Heaven was the word for Canada…So standing today in Canada I am linked with the history of my people and its unity with your past.”

Please note: The Cranbrook Public Library has all kinds of books and films about the African-American experience.

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