MLK and the Queen of American Folk Music Crossword
Contents
Do you know your MLK from your Queen of American Folk Music? If not, this blog post is for you! We’ve put together a crossword to help you brush up on your knowledge of these two important figures.
The Life of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience. King has been referred to as America’s “preeminent voice of conscience” and “the moral leader of his generation”.
His early life and education
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the middle child of Martin Luther King Sr., a Baptist minister, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolteacher. As a young boy, he attended public schools in Atlanta, and at the age of 15 he graduated from high school. Afterward, he enrolled in Morehouse College, also in Atlanta, where he studied medicine and sociology. He also became a member of the school’s debating team. Upon graduating from Morehouse in 1948, he entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. There he won a prestigious fellowship that allowed him to study at Boston University, where he earned his doctorate in systematic theology in 1955.
His work with the Civil Rights Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an influential figure in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. A Baptist minister from Atlanta, Georgia, King is best known for his role in leading civil disobedience protests against segregation and racial discrimination. Among his most famous speeches is the “I Have a Dream” speech, given in 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent advocacy of civil rights. He was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39.
His assassination
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was shot by James Earl Ray, a white man who had escaped from prison a few weeks earlier. Ray confessed to the shooting but later recanted his confession and claimed he was innocent. He was convicted of King’s murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison, where he died in 1998.
The Life of Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an African American blues singer. She is often referred to as the “Queen of American Folk Music.” She was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1894. Her music was a reflection of her life, which was full of struggle and hardship.
Her early life and career
Bessie Smith was born on April 15, 1894, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her parents were William and Laura Smith. Bessie was the youngest of six children and grew up in a poor family. Her father was a laborer and her mother was a domestic worker. Bessie attended school for only a few years before she had to start working to help support her family.
Bessie began her career as a singer in nightclubs in the 1920s. She soon became one of the most popular performers in the United States. Her powerful voice and emotional style made her one of the most influential blues singers of all time.
Bessie recorded more than 160 songs during her career. Some of her most famous songs include “Downhearted Blues”, “Taint Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do”, and “I Ain’t Got Nobody”.
Bessie Smith died on September 26, 1937, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. She was just 43 years old.
Her work as the “Queen of American Folk Music”
Bessie Smith was an American folk musician born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1894. Her work as the “Queen of American Folk Music” earned her a place in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. She is best known for her song “St. Louis Blues”, which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1983.
Her death
Bessie Smith died on September 26, 1937, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. She was returning from a performance in Memphis, Tennessee, when she was involved in a car accident. Smith’s longtime friend and bodyguard, Richard Morgan, was driving the car. Morgan lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a ditch. Smith was ejected from the car and died instantly.
The Connection Between MLK and Bessie Smith
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bessie Smith both fought for the rights of African Americans. Smith through her music and King through his speeches and activism. They both crossed paths in the early 1940s when King was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta and Smith was touring the South with her band.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bessie Smith both suffered the prejudice and discrimination that was directed towards African Americans in the early twentieth century. They both fought against this unjust treatment through their work in the civil rights movement and their music, respectively.
Though they came from different backgrounds and achieved different levels of success, King and Smith shared the experience of being African American in a time when this meant facing racism and discrimination on a daily basis. This shared experience helped to inform their work and make them both powerful forces for change in their respective fields.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bessie Smith both used their work to effect social change. King was a minister and civil rights leader who gave speeches calling for an end to segregation and racial discrimination. Smith was a singer who wrote and performed songs that advocated for the rights of African Americans. Both King and Smith were influential in their fields, and their work helped to bring about important changes in American society.
Their influence on American culture
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bessie Smith were two of the most important figures in American history. Dr. King was a civil rights leader who fought for equality and justice for all people, while Bessie Smith was a blues singer whose music spoke to the African American experience. Both Dr. King and Bessie Smith had a profound influence on American culture, and their legacies continue to inspire people today.
