All four of MLK's children . Martin Luther King Jr. was killed on a hotel balcony in Memphis. ATLANTA Yolanda Denise King, the Rev. "[24] King appeared in the film Selma, Lord, Selma, based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches as Miss Bright. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. She reflected "I had never read his works. Her brother Martin III was born in 1957; brother Dexter in 1961; and sister Bernice in 1963. 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. This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial. [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. She became an actress, ran a production company and appeared in numerous films, including "Ghosts of Mississippi," and as Rosa Parks in the 1978 miniseries "King.". She was an actress and writer, known for King (1978), JAG (1995) and Hopscotch (1980). 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Still Far From Living King's Dream, His Daughter Says", "LOVE WILL LIGHT WAY, KING'S DAUGHTER SAYS", "25th anniversary of death of Martin Luther King, Jr. is observed across USA", "KING'S DAUGHTER TO INTERPRET DREAM FOR DENVER", "WATTS: Show Stirs Memories for King's Daughter", "Daughter Yolanda King And Sinfonietta Honor Her Dad", "King Family Makes Appeal For Trial for James Earl Ray", "More Need To Hear Yolanda King's 'Music', "King's daughter recalls father's message", "King's 'Dream' Endures in Mix of Music, Drama", "Yolanda King, 51; actress, child of civil rights leader", "Coretta Scott King to Remain Hospitalized at Least a Week", "Relative Says Mrs. King Had Minor Stroke", "Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., dies", "Eldest daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. dies", "Yolanda King's body brought back to Atlanta", "King's Dream Of Unity Reflected In Celebrations", "King's dream still worth pursuing, daughter says", "Civil-rights leader's daughter to speak", "King's Daughter Urges Students To Get Involved", "Task Force mourns death of Yolanda King 'An unwavering voice for equality and justice', "Out & Equal Mourns the Passing of Civil Rights Leader", "Yolanda King's sudden death shocks family, friends", "After 'March', feeling hopeful about the 'Dream', In Black America; Yolanda King: Understanding The Black Struggle,, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yolanda_King&oldid=1136984705, Felecia Hunter, in the 1978 television miniseries, Melina Nzeza as a child and Ronda Louis-Jeune as an adult, in the 2013 television movie, This page was last edited on 2 February 2023, at 04:20. Positive reception came to this interview, and Yolanda was even called the "leader of the 16-year-olds" for her "calmness, her concern," and "her vision". Oliver Lang/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. ATLANTA Yolanda King, the Rev. Gamilah Lumumba Shabazz Gamilah was born in 1964, the year before her dad's death. [13][14] [79] King stressed in 1992 that love would help people make their mark on the world. Neither she nor her mother was injured when the device exploded on the front porch. "I'm Yoki," Yolanda King said, smiling. Summary . [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. ", As an actress, she appeared in numerous films, including "Ghosts of Mississippi," and even played civil rights heroine Rosa Parks in the 1978 miniseries "King.". There, in my living room, shaking off snow and laughing, were the kids in the picture two of them, anyway. She took classes taught by Manning Marable and Johnnella Butler, and became satisfied with her choice of a college. hide caption, Yolanda King, shown here in a 2005 photograph, sought to encourage "personal growth and positive social change.". Memorialize Yolanda's life with photos and stories about her and the King family history and genealogy. [41] Her inclinations were driven to be artistic, which did not suit the political aspects of her father's life. 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.". 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. The two were the same age. [24] In February 1982, King was a speaker during the centennial of Anne Spencer's birth. Bernice King, Yolanda King and Martin Luther King III. We cannot be satisfied with a few black faces in high places when millions of our people have been locked out." She was 51. King outlived her mother by only 16 months, succumbing to complications related to a chronic heart condition on May 15, 2007. [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]. She portrayed Rosa Parks, who sparked the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her bus seat in a miniseries, King (1978), and Betty Shabazz, the wife of Malcolm X, in Death of a Prophet (1981). ", "Yolanda never wavered from a commitment to nonviolent social change and justice for all," he said. We compared notes about having gone to women's colleges and teased each other about the perceived weaknesses of our respective alma maters. She was an actress and writer, known for King (1978), JAG (1995) and Death of a Prophet (1981). Coretta had a blood clot move from her heart and lodge in an artery in her brain. Yolanda King, shown here in a 2005 photograph, sought to encourage "personal growth and positive social change." She was just 10 weeks old when the King family home was bombed in Jan. 30, 1956, as her father attended a boycott rally. In 1960, they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she was immersed in social upheaval. ", during a celebration that marked what would have been her father's sixty-fourth birthday. I remember listening to the news, in disbelief, in the twilight hours of April 4, 1968. [80] That same year, she also spoke at Indiana University. "She was an actress, author, producer, advocate for peace and nonviolence, who was known and loved for her motivational and inspirational contributions to society," the King family said in a statement. "She was the first daughter of the civil rights movement and never shamed her parents or her co-activists.". Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The next-youngest, Dexter, leaned silently against his mother's side. When asked what kind of world she would like to live in, King said she wished "people could love everybody". He had come up for the festivities, and he had two friends with him. [24], On May 15, 2007, King told her brother Dexter, that she was tired, though he thought nothing of it because of her "hectic" schedule. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The event marked 57 years since King Jr delivered. Coretta Scott King began to decline in health after suffering a stroke in August 2005. [3] Yolanda and her mother were not harmed. King became a human rights activist and actress. During the family's interview with Mike Wallace in December 1968, Yolanda was introduced by her mother and revealed her role in keeping the family together. "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. after numerous attempts to explain the issue to her, Yolanda finally understood. [114] A public memorial for Yolanda King was held on May 24, 2007, at Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary in Atlanta, Georgia. The pair performed in around 50 cities a year and did lectures together, typically in school settings. Yolanda King was born November 17, 1955, shortly before the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In a statement, Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia and a veteran of the civil rights movement, said that being Dr. Kings daughter was to carry an extra burden. [119] She made it clear that month that she was not trying to fill her father's footsteps, noting jokingly that "They're too big" and that she would "fall and break [her] neck". [46] Her grandfather Martin Luther King Sr. initially was not going to go to her performance due to opposition by locals, but changed his mind afterward. [81] In October, King gave support for a Cabrini-Green family that wants to escape the violence, and a fundraiser for their cause. The flag at The King Center, where she was a board member, flew at half-staff on today. 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. But the circumstances surrounding her death make people draw conclusions about her cause of death. [36] She did admit that, had he lived or he been listened to more, "we would be in a far better place. When asked about how she was faring following her mother's death, Yolanda responded: "I connected with her spirit so strongly. FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2006, file photo, from left, the children of the Rev. [24] On January 7, 1986, Yolanda, her brother Martin Luther King III and her sister Bernice were arrested for "disorderly conduct" by officers responding to a call from a Winn Dixie market, of which had an ongoing protest against it since September of the previous year. [22] She ranked in the top 10 percent of her class. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 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. The Tragic 2007 Death Of Martin Luther King's Eldest Child, Yolanda King. [31], King was visited by Mrs. Kennedy before her father's funeral. You can help our automatic cover photo selection by reporting an unsuitable photo. After the move, she founded Higher Ground Productions where she produced and starred in a myriad of films. She did not understand, and asked her mother Coretta why she was not able to go. 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. We had cups of tea because it was so frigid that night, and then they were gone. In the early hours of May 19, 2007, King's body was brought to Atlanta, Georgia by private plane belonging to Bishop Eddie Long. For a nation that prides itself on liberty, justice and equality for all, this is totally unacceptable. 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. She was 7 when her father mentioned her and her siblings in his 1963 speech at the March on Washington: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.". . She mentioned the possibility that the event could have been a calling for Americans to put their loyalty towards "their race, tribe and nation", as her father once said. Yolanda Denise King was an African-American activist, actress and first-born child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. 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 response, she pushed for "the goal" to be "color acceptance. Being a busy woman, her brother merely treated it as one of her hectic schedules. The death comes just over a year after the death of her mother, Coretta Scott King a civil rights leader in her own right at the age of 78, of complications from ovarian cancer, and after a battle with the effects from a stroke. "Yolanda was lovely. Yolanda Denise King, 51, the eldest daughter of the late civil rights leader Rev. [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. Market data provided by Factset. Sharpton said Yolanda King was a "torch bearer for her parents and a committed activist in her own right. She was also on the board of the King Center. "We must keep reaching across the table and, in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, feed each other," said Yolanda, urging those who honor the Kings' work to question their own beliefs on prejudice and be a personal force for peace and love. A few days later, we were glued to the television as we watched his funeral. Houston is in for dust and gray skies as Texas haboob arrives, Oops! [97] King and Elodia Tate co-edited the book Open My Eyes, Open My Soul: Celebrating Our Common Humanity,[98][99] published by McGraw-Hill in 2003. CDC warns drug-resistant stomach bug a "serious public health threat" I dream things that never were and say why not?". Though her mother kept her nave to the controversies so she could "fulfill [her] objective, which was to do the play", that did not stop her from learning of the negativity implemented from her role years later. Leading up to her death, she was still active in the public eye. Maya Angelou wrote a tribute to her, which was read during the memorial service. Her father admitted that he had never adjusted to bringing up children under "inexplicable conditions". 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 proceeded to read his books, and started to believe that her father had been correct all along. The actual cause of her death was not determined. "[72] Even in her infancy, Yolanda was faced with the threats her father was given when they extended to his family. Only a year earlier, Coretta Scott King, wife of MLK and mother to Yolanda, died from complications of ovarian cancer at the age of 78. I am in direct contact with her spirit, and that has given me so much peace and so much strength." Her deepest memories were the love of her father, who taught her to swim and playfully pummeled her but never spanked her. [93] During a presentation in May 2000, King was asked if the human race would ever become "color blind". There, she gave a speech and made references to her past difficult experiences when first coming to the college. [63][64] The theater company was based in New York City and Los Angeles and focused on addressing the issues that their fathers, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, spoke of in their lifetimes. Raphael Warnock stated; "She dealt with the difficulty of personal pain and public responsibility and yet she emerged from it all victorious. hide caption. She wrote her first play at 8, and her mother sent her to acting school the next year. King; two brothers, Martin Luther King III and Dexter Scott King; and an extended family. Flying bug found at Walmart turns out to be rare Jurassic-era insect But walking through the first part of the exhibit I felt that terror. [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. [51], After graduating from high school, she went to Smith College. In her teenage years, she became an effective leader of her high school class and was covered by the magazines Jet and Ebony. [21] At the age of eight after writing her first play,[22][23] she also enrolled in the only integrated drama school of that time. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story" Her teenage years were filled with more tragedies, specifically the sudden death of her uncle Alfred Daniel Williams King and the murder of her grandmother, Alberta Williams King. Martin Luther King Jr. 's eldest child who pursued her father's dream of racial harmony through drama and motivational speaking, has died. "[91] In an interview with People magazine in 1999, she recalled when she first learned of her father's death and stated in her words that "to this day, my heart skips a beat every time I hear one of those special bulletins. [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. In 1958, Dr. King narrowly escaped death when he was stabbed in a bookstore in Harlem. 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. Yolanda King was the founder and head of Higher Ground Productions, billed as a "gateway for inner peace, unity and global transformation." He added she was "thoroughly committed to the movement and found her own means of expressing that commitment through drama. Yolanda Denise King, daughter and eldest child of the Rev. [39] During a Sunday visit to Church, King was forced to stand before the congregation and explain her actions. In 1999, she acted in Selma, Lord, Selma, about the civil rights march, and in 1996 appeared in Ghosts of Mississippi, about efforts to track down the killer of Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader. She was among 187 people arrested during a demonstration by lesbian and gay rights activists. Her childhood experience was greatly influenced by her father's highly public activism. "She was a warm and gentle person and was thoroughly committed to the movement and found her own means of expressing that commitment through drama. He would be killed a scant three months later by an assassin's bullet. [25] Her memories of her father prompted her to state that he "believed we were all divine. [16] She predicted at that time that all of the "Negro leaders" would be killed and the non-leading African-Americans would agree to segregation. [29] King complimented her mother as a "brave and strong lady," leading to a hug between them. [11] When she was 6 years old, she was saddened by classmates' remarks that her father was a "jailbird". She originally wanted $8,000, but negotiated down to $6,500. Yolanda King was active in education during the start of her acting career, working as a professor for three years at Fordham University before moving to Los Angeles in 1990. She asked her mother at this time, if she should hate the man who killed her father. Bernice King at Yolanda King Memorial May 24, 2007 DryerBuzz An Original Digital 2.67K subscribers 309K views 15 years ago When Bernice brings the word, let's just say the word is delivered.. Yolanda King, Actress: King. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eldest child who pursued her father's dream of racial harmony through drama and motivational speaking, has died. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. She received a standing ovation afterwards, alongside a thunderous applause. "[26] Coretta King wrote in her memoirs, My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr., that "Martin always said that Yoki came at a time in his life when he needed something to take his mind off the tremendous pressures that bore down upon him. November 17, 1955 - May 15, 2007 Santa Monica, California | Age 51 Daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., dies . Yolanda, Martin, Dexter and Bernice King lost their father. One of her father's close aides in the civil rights movement, the Rev. She and her mother, at the time of the bomb's detonation, were in the rear section of their home. Instead, the two quickly found common ground in their activism and in their positive outlook towards the future of African-Americans. She became a secondary caregiver to her younger siblings. [10], Her mother referred to her as being a confidant during the time following her husband's assassination. Search instead in Creative? I don't have to try and prove anything to anyone anymore. "Yolanda was lovely. In fact, she proved that the smile was more powerful and sweeter because it had to press itself through mournfulness to be seen, force itself through cruelty to show that the light of survival shines for us all." Legal Statement. 2007 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. On January 15, 1997, she spoke at Florida Memorial College and expressed what she believed her father would feel if "he knew that people were taking a day off in his memory to do nothing". Supervisor Kenneth Hahn said to King that he "sensed I was in the presence of a great man when I met your father. She was helping the association raise awareness, especially among blacks, about stroke. [86], On February 1, 1994, King attempted to speak before a diverse class of students at North Central College. King's mother, Coretta Scott King, suffered a stroke before her death from cancer in 2006. [112] On May 12, 2007,[107] days before her death, she spoke at St. Mary Medical Center, on behalf of the American Stroke Association. Yolanda King would have been 51 years old at the time of death or 59 years old today. Martin Luther King III uttered that "Yolanda is still in business. Rest in peace Yoki! "[54] On April 4, 1975, King joined her family in placing azaleas over her father's crypt, marking the seventh anniversary of his assassination.[55]. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. In 1956, a number of white supremacists bombed the King household. The cause of death was believed to be heart disease. Bernice A. Martin Luther King Jr., and Coretta Scott King, Dexter Scott King, the Rev. King appeared on News & Notes on January 15, 2007 to discuss her. His youngest two children, Esther and Vernon, were vacationing with King and her family in Jamaica when they heard of his death. Trending News [39] She was active in student government and drama. A young cousin who lived in Atlanta and had worked on the Carter campaign had stopped by during inauguration week. And that's how we can effectively commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.". Stepping into Tomorrow led to the formation of Nucleus in the 1980s, a theater company which King and Shabazz founded. At her father's Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, she performed a series of solo skits that told stories including a girl's first ride on a desegregated bus and a college student's recollection of the 1963 campaign to desegregate Birmingham, Ala. She also urged the audience to be a force for peace and love, and to use the King holiday each year to ask tough questions about their own beliefs about prejudice. [103] King was having a conversation with her mother in her home when she stopped talking. Information about the death of Yolanda King; Cause of death: Heart Attack: Age of death: 51 years: Profession: Civil Rights Leader: Birthday: November 17, 1955: Death date: March 15, 2007: Place of death: N/A: Place of burial: N/A: Quotes. "[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. 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. Ric Feld/AFP/Getty Images 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. However, she was still misjudged and mistrusted because of her skin color, based on perceptions founded solely upon her relationship with her father. I was just someone who loved someone, and I knew he had done great things and now people didn't appreciate it." All rights reserved. In 1966, Yolanda listened to a speech her father gave when he was addressing a rally. [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. 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. At her father's former Atlanta church, Ebenezer Baptist, she performed a series of one-actor skits 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, Alabama. She died on May 15, 2007 in Santa Monica, California, USA. Family (2) Trivia (7) Daughter of Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King. 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. Numerous dignitaries from around the world crowded into the dark wood pews at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. On May 15, 2007, she told her brother Dexter that she was tired. [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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Lawmakers and activists including Andrea Waters King , Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of Rev. Born 1950 and died 2007. He may be dead physically, and one day I am going to see him again".[43]. When she replied "Your father is going to jail so that you can go to Funtown." In the 1990s, she supported a retrial of James Earl Ray and publicly stated that she did not hate him. "[87] In July 1994, after seeing some photographs of her father prior to his death, Yolanda lamented that "this [had] brought back a lot of memories. [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. "[109] She found her mother's personal papers in her home. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. It seems we've stood still and in many ways gone backward since Martin Luther King Jr. was alive. [71] King died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center. It was the first and only institution where King was not harassed or mistreated because of who her father was.
How To Close Computershare Account, Classic Fortnite Unblocked, Dominique Jeannis Football, Houses For Rent In Council Bluffs Iowa, How To Eat 400 Grams Of Carbs A Day, Articles Y