[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. On her company's Web site, she described her mission as encouraging personal growth and positive social change. She was the most visible and outspoken among the Kings' four children during activities honoring this year's Martin Luther King Day in January, the first since Coretta Scott King's death. On May 15, 2007, she told her brother Dexter that she was tired. She took classes taught by Manning Marable and Johnnella Butler, and became satisfied with her choice of a college. Many in attendance did not know her, but came out of respect for the King family's history of peace protests and social justice. She was 12 when her father was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968. 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". Oliver Lang/AFP/Getty Images Being the oldest, she had to watch her three younger siblings; Martin Luther King III, Dexter King and Bernice King and referred to the three as independent when she watched them whenever their mother went out of town. Soon after, she heard of the event when a news bulletin popped up while she was washing dishes. She was credited with having her father's sense of humor.[1]. Al Sharpton, a black political leader, said he expressed his condolences to her brother Martin Luther King III on Wednesday. "[24] King appeared in the film Selma, Lord, Selma, based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches as Miss Bright. Davis said Houston heart association officials have received no specific information on the cause of King's death but added that King had a family history of heart disease and stroke. 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. 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. [102] During the fall of 2004 she played Mama in "A Raisin in the Sun" at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts at Cornell University. 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 was the first daughter of the civil rights movement and never shamed her parents or her co-activists.". [116], Bernice King said it was "very difficult standing here blessed as her one and only sister. She was also subject to some harassment by her classmates, describing it as the "era when students were making demands and many black students were closer to the teachings of Malcolm X, or what they thought were his teachings." [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. When she replied "Your father is going to jail so that you can go to Funtown." "[53] At the time of her turmoil in college, King recalled having not known Malcolm X and "didn't understand daddy, so here I was trying to defend something I thought I knew about but really didn't. / CBS/AP. All rights reserved. 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. The play was directed towards teens and focused on the 10th year reunion of six high school friends. [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. [24] In February 1982, King was a speaker during the centennial of Anne Spencer's birth. People Photos Purpose. I watched as the four King children grew into adulthood, then middle age, all single. The next year, Ms. Kings uncle A. D. King, her fathers sole brother, accidentally drowned. } [71] [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. [130] During a 2009 reunion at her alma mater Smith College, a walk was done in her memory by fellow alumnae.[131]. [36], When asked about what pressures emerged from being a daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., King stated that "as soon as people heard me speak, they would compare me to my father My siblings had the same kind of pressure. "[88] She honored her father in 1995 by performing in the Chicago Sinfonietta in the play "A Lincoln Portrait", in which she was the narrator. And that's how we can now commemorate his daughter. In 1958, Dr. King narrowly escaped death when he was stabbed in a bookstore in Harlem. November 17, 1955 - May 15, 2007 Santa Monica, California | Age 51 Daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., dies . After she suggested that he would most likely give it all away, King laughed with her mother. "Yolanda was lovely. From left: Dexter King, the Rev. Her mother, Coretta Scott King, died last year. [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. The four King children gathered at the February 2006 funeral of their mother, Coretta Scott King. Maya Angelou wrote a tribute to her, which was read during the memorial service. Her childhood experience was greatly influenced by her father's highly public activism. (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.) [93] During a presentation in May 2000, King was asked if the human race would ever become "color blind". 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.Her career as an actor and speaker combined her father's activism with her own artistic pursuits. Joseph Lowery, one of her father's close aides in the civil rights movement. Sign In . The Associated Press contributed to this report. display: none; She then toured the country with the Christian Theater Artist Company, which she helped found. ", The Rev. 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 . Share Memory. Many former classmates of both Grady High School and Smith College attended to remember her. Showing Editorial results for yolanda king. In response, she pushed for "the goal" to be "color acceptance. [20] Soon thereafter, they would be joined by their younger brother Dexter. 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. The actual cause of her death was not determined. ATLANTA - Yolanda King, the Rev. 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. Their play Stepping into Tomorrow was praised by supervisors as being "entertaining and enlightening." ATLANTA Yolanda King, the Rev. After her hour-long presentation, she joined her sister and her aunt, Christine King Farris, in signing books. She was a young girl during his famous stay in the Birmingham, Alabama, jail. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. 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.. Funeral arrangements would be announced later, the family said in a statement. Martin Luther King Jr., and Coretta Scott King, Dexter Scott King, the Rev. Legal Statement. King died late Tuesday in Santa Monica,. With Yolanda King, she also founded a group named Nucleus, Inc. in 1977. "[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]. Anyone can read what you share. She ran out of the room, screamed "I don't want to hear it,"[24] and prayed that he would not die. Al Sharpton called Yolanda King was a "torch bearer for her parents and a committed activist in her own right.". Remember people with biographies & photos. Yolanda and Martin III sat nearby, numb with sadness. [63] A few months after King and Shabazz met, the pair decided to collaborate on a theatrical work, resulting in Stepping into Tomorrow. Her career as an actor and speaker combined her father's activism with her own artistic pursuits. His youngest two children, Esther and Vernon, were vacationing with King and her family in Jamaica when they heard of his death. Yolanda died due to a chronic heart condition in 2007. The loss has not gotten easier in 50 years, but his three surviving children each bear it on their own terms. [61] Both were worried that they would not like each other due to their fathers' legacies. ATLANTA Yolanda Denise King, the Rev. She went to drama school, where was active in student counsels, and in 1976, she graduated from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama and African American Studies. King; two brothers, Martin Luther King III and Dexter Scott King; and an extended family. [39] On April 4, 1970, the second anniversary of her father's death, she and her sister Bernice attended their grandfather Martin Luther King, Sr.'s silent prayer for their father at his gravesite. She allowed me to give myself permission to be me." [108] After Coretta died on January 30, 2006, Yolanda, like her siblings, attended her funeral. <img src="http://members.cox.net/jnashatty/P1020216.jpg" height=450 width=600> One of her father's close aides in the civil rights movement, the Rev. hide caption, Yolanda King, shown here in a 2005 photograph, sought to encourage "personal growth and positive social change.". [58] Despite some early opposition to acting that she received during her controversial play in high school, King still tried to get roles and actively tried performing. } Funeral arrangements would be announced later, the family said in a brief statement. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eldest child who pursued her father's dream of racial harmony through drama and motivational speaking, has died. [33] Bill Cosby flew to Atlanta after the funeral and entertained King and her siblings. "[72] [7] King's father eventually was satisfied with the nickname "Yoki", and wished that if they had a second daughter, they would name her something simpler. Suzan Johnson Cook was highlighted in an article written by the minister, as she dubbed her deceased longtime friend a "queen whose name was King". [65] In 1984, she was arrested in the view of her mother for having protested in front of the South African Embassy, in support of anti-apartheid views. She played Rosa Parks in the 1978 miniseries "King" and appeared in "Ghosts of Mississippi" a drama based on the true story of a white supremacist accused of the assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers (via NPR). King's mother, Coretta Scott King, suffered a stroke before her death from cancer in 2006. Bernice King, Martin Luther King III and Yolanda King participate in a musical tribute to their mother at the new Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. She was 51 King. In her teenage years, King preferred to go by her nickname "Yoki." Yolanda King would have been 51 years old at the time of death or 59 years old today. "We must keep reaching across the table and, in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, feed each other," she said. [85] In October, she uttered her belief that her father's dream of integration was not fully understood. However, she was still misjudged and mistrusted because of her skin color, based on perceptions founded solely upon her relationship with her father. 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. ATLANTA Yolanda Denise King, the Rev. Yolanda King, 51, Actor and Dr. King's Daughter, Dies By Douglas Martin May 17, 2007 Yolanda King, the eldest child of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eldest child who pursued her father's dream of racial harmony through acting and motivational speaking, has died. [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. 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. "[92], King attended and spoke at the Human Rights Campaign Detroit Gala Dinner of 2000. [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. In her teenage years, she became an effective leader of her high school class and was covered by the magazines Jet and Ebony. I got my answer less than a decade later when, one ridiculously snowy evening in Washington, D.C., my doorbell rang. Martin Luther King Jr. , Rev. She wore the mantle of princess, and she wore it with dignity and charm," Lowery said. When asked by The Associated Press at that event how she was dealing with the loss of her mother, she responded: "I connected with her spirit so strongly. I dream things that never were and say why not?". 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story" [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. 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. Death of Yolanda King. Yolanda King was born on November 17, 1955 and died on May 15, 2007. "[101] "I struggled with a lot of the legacy for a long time, probably actually into my 30s before I really made peace with it," Yolanda stated in 2005 on "Western Skies", a public radio show based in Colorado. 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. King received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, a master's degree in theater from New York University,[59] and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Marywood University. 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. Her death came less than a year and a half after her mother, Coretta Scott King, died in January 2006. [118], Despite this, she was quoted in January 2003 of saying that she was "a 100 percent, dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying believer in 'The Dream'. Yolanda Denise King, daughter and eldest child of the Rev. "[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. ", "Yolanda never wavered from a commitment to nonviolent social change and justice for all," he said. Three officers shot, standoff follows in Kansas City, Mo., police say, Vanessa Bryant, family settles claims over Kobe crash site photos for $28.5M, Flying bug found at Walmart turns out to be rare Jurassic-era insect, Pennsylvania police seized gloves, flashlight from home of Idaho murders suspect, CDC warns drug-resistant stomach bug a "serious public health threat". They look at me when I'm talking as if this is science fiction. Alongside the physician that took care of her mother, Dr. Maggie Mermin and her sister, Yolanda told the press that her mother was making progress on a daily basis and was expected to make a full recovery. [114] A public memorial for Yolanda King was held on May 24, 2007, at Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary in Atlanta, Georgia. Coretta had a blood clot move from her heart and lodge in an artery in her brain. Martin Luther King Jr., has died, said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center. [129] On May 25, 2008, her brother Martin Luther III and his wife, Arndrea, became the parents of a baby girl and named her Yolanda Renee King, after King herself. Yolanda King: 'We will fulfil my grandfather's dream' The granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr speaks at the 2020 March on Washington. "[126] Like her parents and siblings, King did not publicly affiliate with a political party. When he did, she would play and swim with him. [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. Coretta Scott King began to decline in health after suffering a stroke in August 2005. What is the birth name of. Her mother started to realize that Yolanda had become more aware of the possibility that her father could be killed as well. In 1960, they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she was immersed in social upheaval. 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. [36] She did admit that, had he lived or he been listened to more, "we would be in a far better place. She would play and swim with him, Inc. in 1977 her aunt, King! A young girl during his famous stay in the civil rights movement Dexter that she was tired, were with... 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