Mrs. King said the children attended because they wanted to. "[127] Joseph Lowery stated; "She was a princess and she walked and carried herself like a princess. [51], After graduating from high school, she went to Smith College. A young cousin who lived in Atlanta and had worked on the Carter campaign had stopped by during inauguration week. "[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. To Yolanda, it seemed as if adults naturally went to jail occasionally, because all those she knew seemed to do that. Born on Nov. 17, 1955, in Montgomery, Ala., Yolanda Denise King was just an infant when her home was bombed amid the turbulent civil rights era. 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. She was an actress and writer, known for King (1978), JAG (1995) and Hopscotch (1980). She was one of the first black children at a previously segregated elementary school in Atlanta, where she endured racial epithets. after numerous attempts to explain the issue to her, Yolanda finally understood. Yolanda King, the eldest child of the Rev. [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. 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 drama and motivational speaking, collapsed and died after making a speech . "[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. [32] After the funeral, she was visited by classmates from Spring Street Middle School with flowers and cards. With Yolanda King, she also founded a group named Nucleus, Inc. in 1977. 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. "[24] King appeared in the film Selma, Lord, Selma, based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches as Miss Bright. Yolanda King is survived by her sister, the Rev. [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. ATLANTA Yolanda Denise King, the Rev. She became a secondary caregiver to her younger siblings. 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. The King Center in Atlanta set up to preserve the legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King says his oldest child, Yolanda Denise King, has died. Bernice King, Yolanda King and Martin Luther King III. Garrow says his first inclination when he heard of Yolanda's death was: This is it. We must cease our premature celebration [about civil rights already achieved] and get back to the struggle. "[128] January 2008's issue of Ebony, her relationship with Rev. Klein said the family did not know the cause of death but that relatives think it might have been a heart problem. There was such a need, like they were looking for a miracle. 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. Memorialize Yolanda's life with photos and stories about her and the King family history and genealogy. She took classes taught by Manning Marable and Johnnella Butler, and became satisfied with her choice of a college. When asked what kind of world she would like to live in, King said she wished "people could love everybody". People Photos Purpose. 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. Death of Yolanda King. [85] In October, she uttered her belief that her father's dream of integration was not fully understood. At that time, she was also called by Andrea Young, whose own father had insisted that she should. There, she joined hands with her siblings and mother along with other civil rights activists, singing We Shall Overcome. [84] During her speech, she mentioned that the fact that the poverty line in America among children had nearly tripled and urged people to "reach out" and "do what you can". [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. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Around an hour later,[113] King collapsed in the Santa Monica, California home of Philip Madison Jones, her brother Dexter King's best friend, and could not be revived. Yolanda, Martin, Dexter and Bernice King lost their 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. Martin Luther King Jr., has died, said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center. Her father also addressed the issue himself. "[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. [22] She ranked in the top 10 percent of her class. 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.". ", during a celebration that marked what would have been her father's sixty-fourth birthday. She was 51 King. King cried when she found out her father had been imprisoned. display: block; King died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 51. She ran out of the room, screamed "I don't want to hear it,"[24] and prayed that he would not die. The other indelible image is of Mrs. King and her children. ", The Rev. Many former classmates of both Grady High School and Smith College attended to remember her. 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. Yolanda King was born November 17, 1955, shortly before the Montgomery Bus Boycott. She was credited with having her father's sense of humor.[1]. King's mother, Coretta Scott King, suffered a stroke before her death from cancer in 2006. Funeral arrangements would be announced later, the family said in a brief statement. Her death came less than a year and a half after her mother, Coretta Scott King, died in January 2006. "Yolanda was lovely. One of her father's close aides in the civil rights movement, the Rev. Born in 1955 in Montgomery, Ala., King was just an infant when her home was bombed during the turbulent civil rights era. In January 2004, King referred to her father as a king, but not as one who "sat on a throne, but one who sat in a dark Birmingham jail. 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. [35], In regards to the possibility that her father could have been saved, King said she doubted that her father could have lived much longer given all the stress he had during his tenure as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. [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. [10], Her mother referred to her as being a confidant during the time following her husband's assassination. Yolanda has mostly been portrayed in films that revolve around her parents. Martin Luther King Sr., refused to attend, but her mother supported her. Yolanda Denise King, daughter and eldest child of civil rights leader the Rev. Legal 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,". Steve Klein, a spokesman for the center, says the 51-year-old died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif. A spokesman for the King Center says the family does not know the cause of death but suspects it might have been a heart problem. Her childhood experience was greatly influenced by her father's highly public activism. (After all, she was a theater major.) The four King children gathered at the February 2006 funeral of their mother, Coretta Scott King. Please enter valid email address to continue. King was cremated,[115] in accordance with her wishes. In 1956, a number of white supremacists bombed the King household. Yolanda King: 'Open My Eyes, Open My Soul'. "[126] Like her parents and siblings, King did not publicly affiliate with a political party. She also was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. 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. 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. Below, she speaks at a 2000 Human Rights Campaign gala. She was involved in a sibling feud that pitted her and her brother Dexter against their brother Martin Luther King III and sister Bernice King for the sale of the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Summary . 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". 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.". Bernice A. [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]. However, she was still misjudged and mistrusted because of her skin color, based on perceptions founded solely upon her relationship with her father. [67] That same year, she presented the Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Public Service to Chicago Mayor Harold Washington during the fifth annual Ebony American Black Achievement Awards. She was 51. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { [9] Decision-making towards what school she would attend in first grade was done primarily by her mother, since her father expressed disinterest to her early in the decision-making. Houston is in for dust and gray skies as Texas haboob arrives, Oops! Lawmakers and activists including Andrea Waters King , Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of Rev. She made lifelong friends while in the institution that would collectively be called the "Grady Girls". [50] Steve Klein, a spokesman for the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, said the cause of death had not been determined but seemed related to cardiopulmonary problems. Yolanda Renee King declares a call to action to mark Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday: "Although you may not be old enough to vote, you are the future." Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of civil . Yolanda King was born on November 17, 1955 and died on May 15, 2007. [106] She became a spokesperson for the American Heart Association after her mother's stroke, promoting a campaign to raise awareness about strokes. Pennsylvania police seized gloves, flashlight from home of Idaho murders suspect King was the first national ambassador to the anti-stroke campaign and she helped spread the word about risk factors and warning signs of stroke, Davis said. Yolanda King, Actress: King. The loss has not gotten easier in 50 years, but his three surviving children each bear it on their own terms. The next-youngest, Dexter, leaned silently against his mother's side. Legal Statement. Blame the Federal Reserve. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Martin Luther King Jr., and a friend of the gay community, died on May 15. [25] Her memories of her father prompted her to state that he "believed we were all divine. In 1974, an apparent madman fired a gun in the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and killed her grandmother Alberta Williams King. Death photos of Yolanda King Seeing Spots May 24, 2007 1 2 Next Seeing Spots Joyful Woman! Martin Luther King Jr., died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 51. Her career in acting kept her in the realm of civil rights. I don't have to try and prove anything to anyone anymore. 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 Denise King, 51, the eldest daughter of the late civil rights leader Rev. 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. We had cups of tea because it was so frigid that night, and then they were gone. "[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. [66], She showed dissatisfaction with her "generation" on January 20, 1985, and referred to them as being "laid-back and unconcerned", and "forgetting the sacrifices that allowed them to get away with being so laid-back". She was an actress and writer, known for King (1978), JAG (1995) and Death of a Prophet (1981). This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. When asked about how she was faring following her mother's death, Yolanda responded: "I connected with her spirit so strongly. Leading up to her death, she was still active in the public eye. That decade saw King's acting career take off as she appeared in ten separate projects, including Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Our Friend, Martin (1999) and Selma, Lord, Selma (1999). 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. Yolanda King, shown here in a 2005 photograph, sought to encourage "personal growth and positive social change." Photos honoring the life of Yolanda King from Santa Monica, California - ADVERTISEMENT - Play Music Pause Music Tweet; Help | Login | Sign Up; . There, in my living room, shaking off snow and laughing, were the kids in the picture two of them, anyway. 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. In 1960, they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she was immersed in social upheaval. When King was 16, she received attention in Jet in 1972, where she talked about what her father's famous name was doing for her life. [20] Soon thereafter, they would be joined by their younger brother Dexter. [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. Her death came less than a year and a half after her mother, Coretta Scott King, died in January 2006. [71] 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. It seems we've stood still and in many ways gone backward since Martin Luther King Jr. was alive. They look at me when I'm talking as if this is science fiction. Yolanda King would have been 51 years old at the time of death or 59 years old today. Maybe when I'm older I won't be able to stand Yoki, but Yolanda sounds so formal!" During the course of her lifetime, King's name was mispronounced to the point that it bothered her. 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. [19], King, and her brother "Marty", were enrolled in the fall semester of 1965 at Spring Street Elementary School, in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. 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 also on the board of the King Center. She was also on the student council. 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. [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]. [42] Of the King children, Yolanda was the only one to attend Grady High School, as her siblings would go to different high schools following her graduation. "Yolanda was lovely. [24] She began speaking publicly at the age of ten and even filled in for her parents on occasion. "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. She founded a production company called Higher Ground Productions. (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.) A number of white supremacists bombed the King household and first-born child of civil rights Rev... 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