When asked about how she was faring following her mother's death, Yolanda responded: "I connected with her spirit so strongly. On her company's Web site, King described her mission as encouraging personal growth and positive social change. [50] King would ultimately attend Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts after graduating from high school. "[117], To the time of her death, King continued to deny that her father's dreams and ideals would be fulfilled during her lifetime. I have chosen to continue to promote 'we're one, the oneness of us, and shine the spotlight,' as my father did. } She called for Americans to memorialize those who gave their lives for "the struggle for peace and justice. She returned to Smith College on January 26, 1989. This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial. One of her father's close aides in the civil rights movement, the Rev. [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 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.". King; two brothers, Martin Luther King III and Dexter Scott King; and an extended family. She debunked complacency in having any role in progression of her father's dream. Bernice King, Yolanda King and Martin Luther King III. Ms. King was 12 on April 4, 1968, when she heard a news bulletin on television saying her father had been assassinated in Memphis. The play was directed towards teens and focused on the 10th year reunion of six high school friends. 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. In an interview with The Baltimore Sun in 1998, Ms. King said acting had liberated her, not least the parts unrelated to her family history. 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. King's mother, Coretta Scott King, suffered a stroke before her death from cancer in 2006. Klein said the family did not know the cause of death but think it might have been a heart problem. Lawmakers and activists including Andrea Waters King , Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of Rev. For a nation that prides itself on liberty, justice and equality for all, this is totally unacceptable. The actor, speaker and producer was the founder and head of Higher Ground Productions, billed as a "gateway for inner peace, unity and global transformation." Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. As she said during an interview, "I prefer Yoki. Besides her brother Dexter Scott King, Yolanda King is survived by another brother, Martin Luther King III, and her sister, the Rev. Yolanda was an advocate for racial and social justice, workers' rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, and general nonviolence. Her mother told her not to, since her father would not want that. Her death came a year after her mother died. [108] After Coretta died on January 30, 2006, Yolanda, like her siblings, attended her funeral. [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. Bernice A. Funeral arrangements would be announced later, the family said in a brief statement. [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,". Yolanda and Martin III sat nearby, numb with sadness. It was the first time she had ever been arrested. Her childhood experience was greatly influenced by her father's highly public activism. Flying bug found at Walmart turns out to be rare Jurassic-era insect When she replied "Your father is going to jail so that you can go to Funtown." This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Soon after, she heard of the event when a news bulletin popped up while she was washing dishes. 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. Martin Luther King Jr. 's eldest child who pursued her father's dream of racial harmony through acting and motivational speaking, has died. Despite this, King managed to keep up her grades and became involved in high school politics, serving as class president for two years. Raphael Warnock stated; "She dealt with the difficulty of personal pain and public responsibility and yet she emerged from it all victorious. An important early memory was that she wanted to go to Funtown, a local amusement park, with the rest of her class, but was barred from doing so due to her race. 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. Early on, she was aware of racism in her surroundings, especially when her father had to explain to her why she wasn't allowed to go to the amusement park known as "Funtown." [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. Despite this, Shabazz still appeared in the state and performed in the play. At that time, she was also called by Andrea Young, whose own father had insisted that she should. [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'. 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. . He added she was "thoroughly committed to the movement and found her own means of expressing that commitment through drama. "[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]. 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). "[92], King attended and spoke at the Human Rights Campaign Detroit Gala Dinner of 2000. 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. Death 15 May 2007 (aged 51) Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California, USA. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. "We must keep reaching across the table and, in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, feed each other," King said. hide caption, Yolanda King, shown here in a 2005 photograph, sought to encourage "personal growth and positive social change.". 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. ", The Rev. Born on Nov. 17, 1955, in Montgomery, Ala., King was just an infant when her home was bombed during the turbulent civil rights era. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Her career as an actor and speaker combined her father's. [116], Bernice King said it was "very difficult standing here blessed as her one and only sister. U.S. Yolanda King Dead At Age 51 May 16, 2007 / 5:32 AM / CBS/AP The King Center in Atlanta set up to preserve the legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King says his oldest. In honor of her father, King promoted a show in Los Angeles entitled "Achieving the Dream" in 2001. She was credited with having her father's sense of humor.[1]. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. [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]. Legal Statement. Jesse Jackson, an aide of Martin Luther King Jr. "The movement was in her DNA. King died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 51, said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center. [78] She joined her mother in placing a wreath around her father's crypt. Yolanda King, the Rev. <img src="http://members.cox.net/jnashatty/P1020216.jpg" height=450 width=600> 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 King, Actress: King. She held membership at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which her father helped found in 1957, and she was a notable advocate for non-violence. Trending News Yolanda King, the eldest child of the Rev. There was such a need, like they were looking for a miracle. [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. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eldest child who pursued her father's dream of racial harmony through drama and motivational speaking, has died. It seems we've stood still and in many ways gone backward since Martin Luther King Jr. was alive. 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". 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. 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). And that's how we can now commemorate his daughter. King cried when she found out her father had been imprisoned. The head of the school was Walt Roberts, father of the actors Eric and Julia Roberts. 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. [51], After graduating from high school, she went to Smith College. In response, she pushed for "the goal" to be "color acceptance. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This, and other experiences, prompted a 7-year-old Yolanda to tell her friends (via Stanford), "Look, all I want is to just be treated like a normal child.". King recalled that her mother had been the main parent and dominant figure in their home, while her father was often away. [11] When she was 6 years old, she was saddened by classmates' remarks that her father was a "jailbird". Time she had ever been arrested funeral arrangements would be announced later, family. 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