Martin Luther King, Jr. Is Born

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January 15th, 2006

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: This day is the birthday of one of the greatest heroes of American history, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. In our humble way, we seek to honor him by showing how his life might have turned out differently, both in established alternate timelines and with subtle differences to our own. The day also has special personal meaning for us here at the Alternate History Academy, for reasons we won't go into, and we hope that you will choose to celebrate it with peace, love and respect.

in 1929, the Reverend Martin Luther King of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church and his wife Alberta lost their first son, a boy they were going to name after the Reverend. Reverend King, a prominent figure in the community, withdrew from the public eye after this and retired from the ministry.

in 1929, the Reverend Martin Luther King of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church and his wife Alberta had their first boy, whom they named after the Reverend. Young Martin Jr. did not take after his father’s temperament, though, and was a young hellion who gave the Kings fits. In his 30’s he found some purpose in the civil rights movement, but was killed during a riot in Atlanta.

in 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up to become the public face of the Semitic-African Resistance in America. During most of his lifetime, he was able to keep the genocidal American Bund from gaining power, and was forced to compromise with the racist President Strom Thurmond in order to keep a greater evil at bay.

in 4625, Guan-di Wang, a spiritual leader of the African people in the Chinese Empire, is born in the ancient city of Timbuktu. Before his famous Journey of Enlightenment in 4660, the ethnic Chinese of the Empire had felt that the other ethnic groups under their rule were treated well; his sermons led the Chinese to understand the second-class nature of the citizenship conferred on non-Chinese. With the opening of democracy in the latter half of the century, he was able to bring a new ethnic ethos that saw all citizens of the Empire as equal.

in 1307, the mullah Malik al-Rai is born in Timbuktu. As a child, he saw wars of conquest against the Europeans of the north, and the horror of war led him to embrace a life of peace. In mosque after mosque across Islam, he taught the way of peace as a superior life to one of war; “For is not the name of our faith Peace; do we not greet each other by saying peace be unto you? Peace is the greatest gift of Allah.”

in 1929, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia. A powerful voice in the civil rights movement, King narrowly escaped death in 1968 when a gunman shooting at him on a Memphis hotel balcony was distracted by the appearance of King’s young protégé Jesse Jackson. Jackson was killed, but King was unharmed.

in 1929, Comrade Martin King was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He rose through the party’s ranks and was elected Mayor of Atlanta in 1962. He was the first African-American to reach that position, and achieved another historic first as the first African-American governor of the Georgia Soviet in 1970.

in 1929, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Although deeply spiritual as a young man, Dr. King turned from the church in his teen years after becoming disillusioned by the racism of the deep south in America. Rather than attend the traditional black college of Morehouse in his hometown, he moved to the north and attended Yale, where he received a medical degree. His studies of sickle cell anemia provided a cure for the disease in 1977, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

Timelines in today's post: the GZR, the Chinese Empire, Islam Ascendant, and Communist America.

Yet another AHN: While researching the links for this day's posting, I came across many web denizens questioning the man's greatness, cause, fidelity, Christianity and even his name. To those people, I hope that the outpouring of love for this great man on the official holiday tomorrow helps to show you just how completely wrong you are.

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