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Delia and Jim King, devout Christians, were sharecroppers who lived with their nine children in a shack 20 miles from Atlanta, Georgia. They were one generation removed from slavery and faced routine violence and racism from white people. Their second child, Michael, was born in 1897. He attended a rural school with a semi-literate teacher, as did the other King children. Sharecropping kept the family poor. In 1912, at the age of 14, Michael left home, barefoot, and headed for Atlanta. He worked for a railroad company and was soon promoted from coal shoveling to firing coal for steam engines. He had a great desire to preach and by 1920 he was working regularly as a preacher. On Thanksgiving Day 1926, Michael married Alberta Williams, daughter of Reverend A. D. Williams and Jennie Celeste Williams. In early 1927, Reverend Michael King became associate pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, working alongside his now father-in-law. That November, Alberta gave birth to their first child, Willi

Delia and Jim King, devout Christians, were sharecroppers who lived with their nine children in a shack 20 miles from Atlanta, Georgia. They were one generation removed from slavery and faced routine violence and racism from white people. Their second child, Michael, was born in 1897. He attended a rural school with a semi-literate teacher, as did the other King children. Sharecropping kept the family poor. In 1912, at the age of 14, Michael left home, barefoot, and headed for Atlanta. He worked for a railroad company and was soon promoted from coal shoveling to firing coal for steam engines.