All four of MLK's children . When asked then by The Associated Press how she was dealing with the loss of her mother, King responded: "I connected with her spirit so strongly. Her father also addressed the issue himself. [39] During a Sunday visit to Church, King was forced to stand before the congregation and explain her actions. <img src="http://members.cox.net/jnashatty/P1020216.jpg" height=450 width=600> The Tragic 2007 Death Of Martin Luther King's Eldest Child, Yolanda King. Garrow says his first inclination when he heard of Yolanda's death was: This is it. She was born just two weeks before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus there, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott spearheaded by her father. [52] With her death, the only remaining members of King's father's immediate family were her grandfather Martin Luther King, Sr. and aunt Christine King Ferris. [93] During a presentation in May 2000, King was asked if the human race would ever become "color blind". Yolanda was born at St. Jude's Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama to Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr[2]., she was only two weeks old when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus. While her siblings were trying to find out what it meant, Yolanda already knew. [13][14] [68], She celebrated her father's holiday on January 16, 1986, and attended a breakfast in Chicago with Mayor Harold Washington. display: none; In response, she pushed for "the goal" to be "color acceptance. King joined her mother and siblings in marches and was lauded by such figures as Harry Belafonte, who established a trust fund for her and her siblings. She returned to Smith College on January 26, 1989. King spoke from the cathedral's Canterbury Pulpit, the same pulpit Martin Luther King Jr. spoke from on his last Sunday sermon before his death. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. [116], Bernice King said it was "very difficult standing here blessed as her one and only sister. Coretta King had established her own career as a civil rights activist, and after her husband's assassination in 1968, she founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (via Biography). "Yolanda was lovely. [44] The practice of going to her father's grave on the anniversary of either his birth or assassination became an annual ritual for the King family to mourn his death. When she replied "Your father is going to jail so that you can go to Funtown." [40] At that time, King still did not know what she wanted to do with her life, but acknowledged that many wanted her to be a preacher. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eldest child who pursued her father's dream of racial harmony through drama and motivational speaking, has died. [76] King and Shabazz had planned the play months before the voters of the state rejecting the holiday, and King prepared a statement which solidified her reasons for supporting the boycott. On December 9, 1990, she canceled a planned appearance in a play in Tucson, Arizona[75] and ignored a boycott going on at the time by civil rights groups and other activists for Arizona voters rejecting the proposal of Martin Luther King Jr. Day being celebrated there. [120] She also advocated for her father's holiday to be used as a day for helping others, and also expressed dissatisfaction on the basis of people relaxing on his day. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. I remember listening to the news, in disbelief, in the twilight hours of April 4, 1968. In a twenty-four-minute-long speech, she brought up the presidential election of that year, and also quoted the words of Bobby Kennedy by recalling his line which he took from George Bernard Shaw, that of "Some men see things as they are and say why? King, Malcolm X Tour With Play That Boosts Self Improvement", Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, "Yolanda King's Stage Direction; Using Theater to Fulfill Her Mission-and Her Father's Mission", "Coretta Scott King biography on Achievement.org", "King's Daughter Urges Cultures To Blend Talents", "Dr. King's 3 Children Visit Him; He Is Allowed Out of Jail Cell; Wife Says They 'Accept' His Absence From Home as in Aid of Negroes", "Dr. MLK speaks to his daughter abt Racism "Fun Town", "JFK's Still-Vibrant Example Continues to Inspire Millions", "Nobel's $$$ and Cents Interest King's Daughter", "Yolanda King, actor and Dr. Martin Luther King's Daughter, dies at 51", "Yolanda King helps others live their dreams", "Yoda King, 51; Child of Civil Rights Leader", "King's Daughter Says Poverty, War Top Issues", "Mrs. Kennedy Visits Mrs. King And 4 Children Before Funeral", "King's Kids Assured Education by Belafonte", "Dr. King's Father Leads Silent Prayer at Rights Leader's Grave", "The Vision Marches On With Martin Luther King Jr.'s Children", "Yolanda King, 51; Child of Civil Rights Leader", "King's Daughter Tells What His Famous Name is Doing to Her Life", "Yolanda King Uses Spotlight As Tool For Change", "Dr. King's Family Observes 7th Anniversary of Slaying", "Actress, Producer, Author Yolanda King '76 Dies", "Yolanda King, daughter of MLK, dies at age 51", "King, Malcom X kin get their act together", "King, Malcolm X Daughters' Play Will Be Staged", "Malcolm X's, King Children Are Soul Mates", "NEW YORK DAY BY DAY; Dr. King's Daughter Assails Her Generation", "Yolanda King, Harold Washington on Achievement Awards", "REAGAN TELLS PUPILS OF STRUGGLE WON BY DR. KING", "Black History Parade, King Speech Draw Thousands", "Daughters of King, Malcolm X Also Have a Message", "Son Dexter To Take Reign of The King Center in Atlanta", "2 Black Leaders' Daughters May Ignore Arizona Boycott", "Yolanda King Cancels Appearance in Arizona", "U.S. [4] Despite this, the front porch was damaged and glass broke in the home. Yolanda Denise King (November 17, 1955 May 15, 2007) was an African-American activist, actress and first-born child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King who pursued artistic and entertainment endeavors and public speaking. In 1993, she debunked the thought that her father's "dream" had been anything but a dream, and was quoted as saying "It's easier to build monuments than to make a better world. "[69] King started Black History Month of 1986 by giving a speech in Santa Ana, which called for the study of African-American history to not be "relegated to the shortest and coldest month of the year. No blood children, maybe, but as Yolanda pointed out in an NPR interview a few years ago, when people feel empowered, they become part of the King legacy: "I think it takes that for people to be effective change agents and to be champions of peace in their own lives. She was helping the association raise awareness, especially among blacks, about stroke. She complimented her mother on her achievements and her mother spoke of her in a positive light, as well. "[100] While in Dallas in March 2004, King related; "It's only in the past half-dozen years or so that I have felt comfortable in my own skin. She was among 187 people arrested during a demonstration by lesbian and gay rights activists. [106] She became a spokesperson for the American Heart Association after her mother's stroke, promoting a campaign to raise awareness about strokes. At the time of the honor, King said that their production company had been approached by organizations seeking to arrange special staging of the play for gang members before May 1, when the show's run would end. In 1956, a number of white supremacists bombed the King household. All rights reserved. Yolanda King: 'We will fulfil my grandfather's dream' The granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr speaks at the 2020 March on Washington. Ms. King was meeting her brother Dexter King at a friends home when she collapsed and died. Yolanda Denise King nicknamed Yoki by the family was born Nov. 17, 1955, in Montgomery, Ala., where her father was then preaching. [10], Her mother referred to her as being a confidant during the time following her husband's assassination. Speaking last January in Atlanta at Ebenezer Baptist Church where her father preached for many years Yolanda exhorted those observing the national holiday that bears his name to remember that America has not yet achieved peace and racial equality. Yolanda King, the Rev. ", during a celebration that marked what would have been her father's sixty-fourth birthday. I am in direct contact with her spirit, and that has given me so much peace and so much strength. Sign In . Former Mayor Andrew Young, a lieutenant of her father's who has remained close to the family, said Yolanda King had just spoken at an event for the American Heart Association. King made it clear that while she had not been "endeared" to the institution, she was still "grateful" for her experience. Yolanda King, the eldest child of the Rev. She was helping the association raise awareness, especially among blacks, about stroke. Wage growth is slowing. Her mother told her not to, since her father would not want that. She was closest to my age, so while the adults worried aloud about what King's assassination would mean for the future of the civil rights movement, I wondered about the future of Yolanda and her siblings. She founded a dramatic group with Atallah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X, the slain civil rights leader, and started a theatrical production company, Higher Ground Productions, dedicated to what she called personal empowerment. On her company's Web site, King described her mission as encouraging personal growth and positive social change. The statement was made while she was in the presence of 800 people who gathered to honor her father at the Everett Theatre. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, He would be killed a scant three months later by an assassin's bullet. [30] Four days later, she and her family accompanied their mother to Memphis City Hall on her own terms, as she and her brothers had wanted to come. [11] When she was 6 years old, she was saddened by classmates' remarks that her father was a "jailbird". Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. Bernice A. Trending News After having been a public speaker for over twenty years, Yolanda recalled her talents having "happened very naturally growing up in a house like mine". Yolanda King was born on November 17, 1955 and died on May 15, 2007. "While Mrs. King was alive, the standards to which she would hold any potential life partner of any of her children would be so high as to be almost unmeetable," he speculates. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who melded her fathers message of racial equality and nonviolence with her own calling as an actor and a motivational speaker, died on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 51. Young said she was going to her brother Dexter's home when she collapsed in the doorway and "they were not able to revive her.". Being a busy woman, her brother merely treated it as one of her hectic schedules. May 24, 2007 #1 A friend of mines sent me these photos, so I cannot verify the authenticity.I think she looks beautiful. (That moment would be captured for posterity by Moneta Sleet Jr., who photographed the funeral for Ebony and Jet; he would later be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for the mother-daughter portrait of grief.) Showing Editorial results for yolanda king. In the interview with the magazine, she related how people expected her to be "stuck up" and referred to it as one of the "handicaps" of being Martin Luther King's child. He added she was "thoroughly committed to the movement and found her own means of expressing that commitment through drama. Four days later, she and her brothers accompanied their mother to appear at Memphis City Hall. Yolanda and Martin III sat nearby, numb with sadness. Ms. King graduated from Smith College and earned a master of fine arts degree from New York University. When asked about how she was faring following her mother's death, Yolanda responded: "I connected with her spirit so strongly. As an actress, she appeared in numerous films and even played civil rights heroine Rosa Parks in the 1978 miniseries "King." Yolanda, Martin, Dexter and Bernice King lost their father. His youngest two children, Esther and Vernon, were vacationing with King and her family in Jamaica when they heard of his death. King outlived her mother by only 16 months, succumbing to complications related to a chronic heart condition on May 15, 2007. Jesse Jackson, an aide of Martin Luther King Jr. "The movement was in her DNA. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who melded her father's. The family did not know the cause of death but that relatives think it might have been a heart problem, he said. In 1960, they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she was immersed in social upheaval. 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