"[126] Like her parents and siblings, King did not publicly affiliate with a political party. The four King children gathered at the February 2006 funeral of their mother, Coretta Scott King. Bernice King, Yolanda King and Martin Luther King III. [36] She did admit that, had he lived or he been listened to more, "we would be in a far better place. Ric Feld/AFP/Getty Images 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. Her mother, Coretta Scott King, died last year. In the Fall of 1968, King attended Henry Grady Highschool, in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, she was president of her sophomore and junior class, and vice president of her senior class. }, First published on May 16, 2007 / 5:32 AM. In 1960, they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she was immersed in social upheaval. [25] Her memories of her father prompted her to state that he "believed we were all divine. Yolanda Denise King, who was born on Nov. 17, 1955, in Montgomery, Ala., lived virtually her entire life in the maelstrom of the civil rights revolution that her father and mother, Coretta Scott King, helped lead. [17] For Christmas 1963, King and her siblings accepted a sacrificial Christmas as appealed by their parents and only received a single gift. Despite this, Shabazz still appeared in the state and performed in the play. A flag at The King Center, which King's mother founded in 1968 and where she was a board member, was lowered to half-staff on Wednesday. King called her father's name and having to live up to it a "challenge" and recalled a friend when she first met a friend of hers, who believed she could not say anything to King but after beginning to know her, realized that she was "no worse than my other friends" and she "could say anything" to her. Yolanda was an advocate for racial and social justice, workers' rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, and general nonviolence. / CBS/AP. [111] She spoke on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2007 to attendees at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and stated: "We must keep reaching across the table and, in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, feed each other,". In 1958, Dr. King narrowly escaped death when he was stabbed in a bookstore in Harlem. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { A few days later, we were glued to the television as we watched his funeral. King was also an author and advocate for peace and nonviolence, and held memberships in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which her father co-founded in 1957 and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 18: Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr., finishes preaching at the Washington National Cathedral January 18, 2022 in Washington, DC. [25], She kicked off Martin Luther King Jr. Day by starting a week-long celebration on January 12, 1987, and talked to students about opportunities that they had at that point which their parents and grandparents did not have. [29] King complimented her mother as a "brave and strong lady," leading to a hug between them. He would be killed a scant three months later by an assassin's bullet. She founded a production company called Higher Ground Productions. The family did not know the cause of death but that relatives think it might have been a heart problem, he said. Death 15 May 2007 (aged 51) Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California, USA. [34] King and her siblings were assured an education thanks to the help of Harry Belafonte, who set up a trust fund for them years prior to their father's death. King outlived her mother by only 16 months, succumbing to complications related to a chronic heart condition on May 15, 2007. At that time, she was also called by Andrea Young, whose own father had insisted that she should. But after finishing her sophomore year and returning home so she could work over the summer, her grandmother Alberta Williams King was killed on June 30, 1974. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. She died on May 15, 2007 in Santa Monica, California, USA. Share Memory. [61] Both were worried that they would not like each other due to their fathers' legacies. Legal Statement. hide caption. [22] King flew to Memphis, Tennessee with her brothers and mother and participated in leading a march in Memphis with sanitation workers and civil rights leaders. [18] In 1964, upon learning her father would receive the Nobel Peace Prize, she asked her mother what her father was going to do with the money he was receiving in addition to the award. (After all, she was a theater major.) "[109] She found her mother's personal papers in her home. Not long after, she collapsed in the Santa Monica . Her mother tried to debunk this, insisting that they would still get it. Wage growth is slowing. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who melded her father's. display: block; <img src="http://members.cox.net/jnashatty/P1020216.jpg" height=450 width=600> Yolanda King, the oldest child of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died on May 15, 2007, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 51. And that's how we can now commemorate his daughter. Yolanda, King's nine-year-old granddaughter, made headlines just last month with her rousing speech at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington. "Hey, hope you don't mind, but I brought Yoki and Marty with me," he apologized as the three swept up the stairs of my DuPont Circle townhouse. [112] On May 12, 2007,[107] days before her death, she spoke at St. Mary Medical Center, on behalf of the American Stroke Association. Prior to the film's release, King expressed belief in children of the time knowing that "Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, but when it is time to talk about the facts and the history, there is not a lot of knowledge. She originally wanted $8,000, but negotiated down to $6,500. Martin Luther King III uttered that "Yolanda is still in business. Raphael Warnock stated; "She dealt with the difficulty of personal pain and public responsibility and yet she emerged from it all victorious. [93] During a presentation in May 2000, King was asked if the human race would ever become "color blind". 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. } She stated, "It is entirely appropriate that you would choose to focus on multiculturalism as the opening activity of Black History Month. And I was happy to see that they bore no resemblance to the sad-eyed youngsters I'd seen on television during their father's services. Coretta Scott King began to decline in health after suffering a stroke in August 2005. Yolanda King, 51, Actor and Dr. King's Daughter, Dies By Douglas Martin May 17, 2007 Yolanda King, the eldest child of the Rev. King also voiced her dislike of the assumption that she would behave just like her mother and father, and the difficulty of being perceived as not being someone others could talk to. After she suggested that he would most likely give it all away, King laughed with her mother. Besides her brother Dexter Scott King, Yolanda King is survived by another brother, Martin Luther King III, and her sister, the Rev. Legal Statement. "[92], King attended and spoke at the Human Rights Campaign Detroit Gala Dinner of 2000. [24] In February 1982, King was a speaker during the centennial of Anne Spencer's birth. Mrs. King said the children attended because they wanted to. King was cremated,[115] in accordance with her wishes. All three of her siblings lit a candle in her memory. When the Associated Press asked how she was dealing with her mother's death, she said(via NPR), "I connected with her spirit so strongly. Yolanda King was born on November 17, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. Martin Luther King Jr., and a friend of the gay community, died on May 15. [95] She, her brother Martin Luther King III and Al Sharpton sang We Shall Overcome in front of "The Sphere", which stood atop the World Trade Center prior to the September 11 attacks.[96]. [63], When presenting herself in 1980 to the GSA staff members, she stated: "Jim Crow [segregation] is dead, but his sophisticated cousin James Crow, Esq., is very much alive. Active human rights worker. [3] Yolanda and her mother were not harmed. Coretta had a blood clot move from her heart and lodge in an artery in her brain. King; two brothers, Martin Luther King III and Dexter Scott King; and an extended family. Al Sharpton called Yolanda King was a "torch bearer for her parents and a committed activist in her own right.". Bernice A. or redistributed. Yolanda Denise King, daughter and eldest child of the Rev. She also found "great irony" in President Ronald Reagan having signed a bill to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday. A flag at The King Center, which King's mother founded in 1968 and where she was a board member, was lowered to half-staff on Wednesday. Lawmakers and activists including Andrea Waters King , Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of Rev. She was 12 when her father was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968. She was an actress and writer, known for King (1978), JAG (1995) and Death of a Prophet (1981). Martin Luther King Jr. , Rev. Yolanda Denise King nicknamed Yoki by the family was born Nov. 17, 1955, in Montgomery, Ala., where her father was then preaching. Yolanda King: 'Open My Eyes, Open My Soul'. [10], Her mother referred to her as being a confidant during the time following her husband's assassination. [77] On January 17, 1991, Yolanda spoke before a crowd of students at Edmonds Community College, around 200 in number. She called him my first buddy, saying, I was tremendously loved.. The statement was made while she was in the presence of 800 people who gathered to honor her father at the Everett Theatre. [48] Despite statements such as these, King did not become aware of the public discomfort with her role until years later, citing her mother's involvement in her knowledge of the criticism.[49]. When asked by a young boy what she remembered most about her father, she admitted that her father was not able to spend much time with her and the rest of her family. [85] In October, she uttered her belief that her father's dream of integration was not fully understood. [82], 25 years after her father's assassination, she went to his gravesite. [125] She stated at the Chicago's Out and Equal Workplace Summit in 2006 "If you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, you do not have the same rights as other Americans, you cannot marry, you still face discrimination in the workplace, and in our armed forces. Yolanda King wrote and produced plays; gave speeches to groups that included elementary schoolchildren and Fortune 500 corporations; and acted in commercial movies. Below, she speaks at a 2000 Human Rights Campaign gala. Showing Editorial results for yolanda king. [121] She disliked cliches used to define her father and expressed this to Attallah Shabazz, and recalled having seen a play where her father was a "wimp" and carried The Bible with him everywhere.[122]. [80] That same year, she also spoke at Indiana University. Her accomplishments extended further to the publishing industry, where she authored several books, including "Open my Eyes, Open my Soul," which made it to print in 2003 (via Stanford). The loss has not gotten easier in 50 years, but his three surviving children each bear it on their own terms. Garrow says his first inclination when he heard of Yolanda's death was: This is it. I have chosen to continue to promote 'we're one, the oneness of us, and shine the spotlight,' as my father did. [39] She was active in student government and drama. She ran out of the room, screamed "I don't want to hear it,"[24] and prayed that he would not die. He told her that there were many whites who were not racist and wanted her to go but there were many who were and did not want her to go. #inline-recirc-item--id-93e66a4a-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { The two were the same age. She has mostly been in the news. In her teenage years, King preferred to go by her nickname "Yoki." Oliver Lang/AFP/Getty Images [50] King would ultimately attend Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts after graduating from high school. She occasionally experienced threats to her life, designed to intimidate her parents, and was bullied at school. Yolanda and Martin III sat nearby, numb with sadness. Joseph Lowery, one of her father's close aides in the civil rights movement. [116], Bernice King said it was "very difficult standing here blessed as her one and only sister. In 1956, a number of white supremacists bombed the King household. He had come up for the festivities, and he had two friends with him. Jesse Jackson stated that King "lived with a lot of the trauma of our struggle. I was just someone who loved someone, and I knew he had done great things and now people didn't appreciate it." ", during a celebration that marked what would have been her father's sixty-fourth birthday. She debunked complacency in having any role in progression of her father's dream. Martin Luther King Jr., died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 51. However, her father reassured her as she began to cry that she was "just as good" as anyone who went to Funtown, and that, one day in the "not too distant future", she was going to be able to go to "any town" along with "all of God's children". Yolanda Denise King, daughter and eldest child of civil rights leader the Rev. [79] King stressed in 1992 that love would help people make their mark on the world. On May 15, 2007, she told her brother Dexter that she was tired. [83] During July 1993, she agreed to speak at the Coral Springs City Centre for airfare and a fee in January 1994. A young cousin who lived in Atlanta and had worked on the Carter campaign had stopped by during inauguration week. On July 21, 1969, King's uncle and father's brother Alfred Daniel Williams King was found dead in the swimming pool of his home. The "commitment" to diverse members in the audience and the play itself, was what represented the opportunities for which King fought. Ms. King was 12 on April 4, 1968, when she heard a news bulletin on television saying her father had been assassinated in Memphis. She recalled having met a friend that was scared of being acquainted with her, because of her father's identity and expressed her thoughts in the colleges she wished to attend. May 24, 2007 #1 A friend of mines sent me these photos, so I cannot verify the authenticity.I think she looks beautiful. Her deepest memories were the love of her father, who taught her to swim and playfully pummeled her but never spanked her. All rights reserved. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eldest child who pursued her father's dream of racial harmony through drama and motivational speaking, collapsed and died after making a speech . She allowed me to give myself permission to be me." Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. [33] Bill Cosby flew to Atlanta after the funeral and entertained King and her siblings. Despite this wish, she acknowledged that this was of no ease and expressed happiness that her father had changed many things, and even made some people gain self-esteem. . Yolanda King would have been 51 years old at the time of death or 59 years old today. On April 8, 1988, King and Shabazz were honored by Los Angeles County supervisors for their "unifying" performance and message on stage at the Los Angeles Theater Center the previous night. [19], King, and her brother "Marty", were enrolled in the fall semester of 1965 at Spring Street Elementary School, in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. At her father's former Atlanta church, Ebenezer Baptist, she performed a series of one-actor skits on King Day this year that told stories including a girl's first ride on a desegregated bus and a college student's recollection of the 1963 desegregation of Birmingham, Ala. She also urged the audience at Ebenezer to be a force for peace and love, and to use the King holiday each year to ask tough questions about their own beliefs on prejudice. She was 51. King aroused controversy in high school for her role in a play. [50] During the course of her lifetime, King's name was mispronounced to the point that it bothered her. 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 died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Image Credit Birthday: November 17, 1955 ( Scorpio) Born In: Montgomery, Alabama, United States 26 15 Civil Rights Activists #23 Human Rights Activists #11 Voice Actresses #17 Quick Facts Also Known As: Yolanda Denise King Died At Age: 51 Family: father: Martin Luther King Jr. In the 1990s, she supported a retrial of James Earl Ray and publicly stated that she did not hate him. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eldest child who pursued her father's dream of racial harmony through drama and motivational speaking, has died. "She was the first daughter of the civil rights movement and never shamed her parents or her co-activists.". "[27], On the evening of April 4, 1968, when she was 12, Yolanda returned with her mother from Easter-dress shopping when Jesse Jackson called the family and reported that her father had been shot. Numerous dignitaries from around the world crowded into the dark wood pews at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. Yolanda King's bio. [47] In response to her role in the play and her own response to the role, a man wrote to Jet predicting that she would marry a white person before she was eighteen. It's often hard for young people to understand the fear and terror so many people felt and how bold they were to get involved in the marches. [110], She preached in January 2007 to an audience in Ebenezer Baptist Church urging them to be an oasis for peace and love, as well as to use her father's holiday as starting ground for their own interpretations of prejudice. Ms. King graduated from Smith College and earned a master of fine arts degree from New York University. Family (2) Trivia (7) Daughter of Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King. King; two brothers, Martin Luther King III and Dexter Scott King; and an extended family. In high school, she was president of her sophomore and junior classes and vice president of her senior class. The four children of the civil rights activist noticed "something was happening". It was the first and only institution where King was not harassed or mistreated because of who her father was. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Garland to face Congress amid ongoing special counsel investigations, FBI chief says agency feels pandemic likely started with Chinese lab leak. [39] During a Sunday visit to Church, King was forced to stand before the congregation and explain her actions. Pews at Atlanta 's Ebenezer Baptist Church III uttered that `` yolanda is still business... Mispronounced to the point that it bothered her in accordance with her wishes she wanted... Intimidate her parents or her co-activists. `` the family did not know the cause death... The opportunities for which King fought loss has not gotten easier in 50 years, was. Her sophomore and junior classes and vice president of her sophomore and junior classes and vice president her. 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