Freedom

Essay by naruto_kunA, May 2005

download word file, 5 pages 5.0

The Towers of Freedom

Two men that stood up for their freedom, two men that stood up on what they believe in. These men are Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela who stood up like sturdy towers against the torrent of segregation and apartheid. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, the eldest son of Martin Luther King, Sr., a Baptist minister, and Alberta Williams King. His father served as pastor of a large Atlanta church, Ebenezer Baptist, which had been founded by Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, maternal grandfather. King, Jr., was ordained as a Baptist minister at age 18.

King attended local segregated public schools, where he excelled. He entered nearby Morehouse College at age 15 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1948. After graduating with honors from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1951, he went to Boston University where he earned a doctoral degree in systematic theology in 1955.

Mandela on the other hand was born on July 18, 1918 in Umtata, South Africa, Xhosa-speaking Thembu chief. He attended the University of Fort Hare in Alice where he became involved in the political struggle against the racial discrimination practiced in South Africa. He was expelled in 1940 for participating in a student demonstration. After moving to Johannesburg, he completed his course work by correspondence through the University of South Africa and received a bachelor's degree in 1942. Mandela then studied law at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He became increasingly involved with the African National Congress a multiracial nationalist movement which sought to bring about democratic political change in South Africa. Mandela helped establish the ANC Youth League in 1944 and became its president in 1951.

Mandela is older than Martin Luther King by...