Yolanda Denise King, daughter and eldest child of the Rev. King outlived her mother by only 16 months, succumbing to complications related to a chronic heart condition on May 15, 2007. Jesse Jackson, an aide of Martin Luther King Jr. "The movement was in her DNA. "[94] Following the September 11 attacks, King spoke in North Chicago in 2002 and related that her father's wisdom during the crisis would have been of great aid to her. [28] [19], King, and her brother "Marty", were enrolled in the fall semester of 1965 at Spring Street Elementary School, in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. 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". Maya Angelou wrote a tribute to her, which was read during the memorial service. King and her brother Martin III bragged about their selflessness at school. Martin Luther King Sr., refused to attend, but her mother supported her. ATLANTA Yolanda King, the Rev. A young cousin who lived in Atlanta and had worked on the Carter campaign had stopped by during inauguration week. Jesse Jackson stated that King "lived with a lot of the trauma of our struggle. Yolanda died in May. [71] I remember listening to the news, in disbelief, in the twilight hours of April 4, 1968. Martin Luther King Jr., has died, said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center. Joseph Lowery, one of her father's close aides in the civil rights movement. . King cried when she found out her father had been imprisoned. Staff writer Kevin Moran contributed to this report. When she replied "Your father is going to jail so that you can go to Funtown." I don't have to try and prove anything to anyone anymore. Klein said the family did not know the cause of death but that relatives think it might have been a heart problem. She was helping the association raise awareness, especially among blacks, about stroke. King, Malcolm X Tour With Play That Boosts Self Improvement", Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, "Yolanda King's Stage Direction; Using Theater to Fulfill Her Mission-and Her Father's Mission", "Coretta Scott King biography on Achievement.org", "King's Daughter Urges Cultures To Blend Talents", "Dr. King's 3 Children Visit Him; He Is Allowed Out of Jail Cell; Wife Says They 'Accept' His Absence From Home as in Aid of Negroes", "Dr. MLK speaks to his daughter abt Racism "Fun Town", "JFK's Still-Vibrant Example Continues to Inspire Millions", "Nobel's $$$ and Cents Interest King's Daughter", "Yolanda King, actor and Dr. Martin Luther King's Daughter, dies at 51", "Yolanda King helps others live their dreams", "Yoda King, 51; Child of Civil Rights Leader", "King's Daughter Says Poverty, War Top Issues", "Mrs. Kennedy Visits Mrs. King And 4 Children Before Funeral", "King's Kids Assured Education by Belafonte", "Dr. King's Father Leads Silent Prayer at Rights Leader's Grave", "The Vision Marches On With Martin Luther King Jr.'s Children", "Yolanda King, 51; Child of Civil Rights Leader", "King's Daughter Tells What His Famous Name is Doing to Her Life", "Yolanda King Uses Spotlight As Tool For Change", "Dr. King's Family Observes 7th Anniversary of Slaying", "Actress, Producer, Author Yolanda King '76 Dies", "Yolanda King, daughter of MLK, dies at age 51", "King, Malcom X kin get their act together", "King, Malcolm X Daughters' Play Will Be Staged", "Malcolm X's, King Children Are Soul Mates", "NEW YORK DAY BY DAY; Dr. King's Daughter Assails Her Generation", "Yolanda King, Harold Washington on Achievement Awards", "REAGAN TELLS PUPILS OF STRUGGLE WON BY DR. KING", "Black History Parade, King Speech Draw Thousands", "Daughters of King, Malcolm X Also Have a Message", "Son Dexter To Take Reign of The King Center in Atlanta", "2 Black Leaders' Daughters May Ignore Arizona Boycott", "Yolanda King Cancels Appearance in Arizona", "U.S. 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. [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. Bernice A. Yolanda King's cause of death remains unknown, although her family including her sister Bernice King and two brothers, Martin and Dexter King believe a heart problem may have contributed to her death (via NPR). Yolanda King's career proved equally successful as she used both entertainment and oratory to advance her family's message. Her decision in 1971 to play a prostitute in a school production of Bill Manhoffs Owl and the Pussycat, which involved kissing a white man, scandalized the white and black communities. [50] No blood children, maybe, but as Yolanda pointed out in an NPR interview a few years ago, when people feel empowered, they become part of the King legacy: "I think it takes that for people to be effective change agents and to be champions of peace in their own lives. An alumna of Smith College after graduating in 1976, she was the subject of an essay among the "remarkable women" during a celebration during the college's one hundred and twenty-fifth year[56] and she was a member of the board of directors of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc. (the official national memorial to her father) and was founding Director of the King Center's Cultural Affairs Program. Yolanda at that same ceremony used her craft as an actress to deliver a tribute to her parents, performing a series of skits telling stories including a girl's first ride on a desegregated bus and a college student's recollection of the 1963 desegregation of Birmingham, Ala. [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. All three of her siblings lit a candle in her memory. She then toured the country with the Christian Theater Artist Company, which she helped found. We compared notes about having gone to women's colleges and teased each other about the perceived weaknesses of our respective alma maters. Martin Luther King Jr. , Rev. 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. 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. She was a reserved and quiet person who loved acting. "[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]. "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. [22] She ranked in the top 10 percent of her class. "[127] Joseph Lowery stated; "She was a princess and she walked and carried herself like a princess. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. Her career as an actor and speaker combined her father's. ", during a celebration that marked what would have been her father's sixty-fourth birthday. "[109] She found her mother's personal papers in her home. She took classes taught by Manning Marable and Johnnella Butler, and became satisfied with her choice of a college. [24] In February 1982, King was a speaker during the centennial of Anne Spencer's birth. Yolanda and Martin III sat nearby, numb with sadness. [61] Both were worried that they would not like each other due to their fathers' legacies. 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." ", The Rev. Bernice A. accessed ), memorial page for Yolanda Denise King (17 Nov 1955-15 May 2007), Find a Grave Memorial ID 19405381; . [106] She became a spokesperson for the American Heart Association after her mother's stroke, promoting a campaign to raise awareness about strokes. [31], King was visited by Mrs. Kennedy before her father's funeral. Like Jackie Kennedy before her, Coretta Scott King sat still and composed as all around her wept. Death photos of Yolanda King Seeing Spots May 24, 2007 1 2 Next Seeing Spots Joyful Woman! The next year, Ms. Kings uncle A. D. King, her fathers sole brother, accidentally drowned. [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". The family did not know the cause of death but that relatives think it might have been a heart problem, he said. 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. 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.". [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. 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. ATLANTA - Yolanda King, the Rev. She returned to Smith College on January 26, 1989. [8] The Kings would have another daughter, almost eight years later, named Bernice (born 1963). We must cease our premature celebration [about civil rights already achieved] and get back to the struggle. ", "Yolanda never wavered from a commitment to nonviolent social change and justice for all," he said. Born on Nov. 17, 1955, in Montgomery, Ala., King was just an infant when her home was bombed during the turbulent civil rights era. Born in 1955 in Montgomery, Ala., King was just an infant when her home was bombed during the turbulent civil rights era. She complimented her mother on her achievements and her mother spoke of her in a positive light, as well. Blame the Federal Reserve. Yolanda King was born on November 17, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. (After all, she was a theater major.) She founded a production company called Higher Ground Productions. Her father also addressed the issue himself. However, she was still misjudged and mistrusted because of her skin color, based on perceptions founded solely upon her relationship with her father. In her teenage years, she became an effective leader of her high school class and was covered by the magazines Jet and Ebony. She wore the mantle of princess, and she wore it with dignity and charm," Lowery said. [13][14] "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. He had come up for the festivities, and he had two friends with him. 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). [39] She was active in student government and drama. 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. She also found "great irony" in President Ronald Reagan having signed a bill to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday. She was born two weeks before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public transit bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Martin Luther King III uttered that "Yolanda is still in business. May 24, 2007 #1 A friend of mines sent me these photos, so I cannot verify the authenticity.I think she looks beautiful. Her death came a year after her mother died. November 17, 1955 - May 15, 2007 Santa Monica, California | Age 51 Daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., dies . [90] King joined the rest of her family in February 1997, in advocating a retrial for James Earl Ray, the man convicted of her father's murder, having realized that "without our direct involvement, the truth will never come out. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The Tragic 2007 Death Of Martin Luther King's Eldest Child, Yolanda King. 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. 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. The children referred to her father as an "Uncle Tom" and she was scared that he would go down in history as such. "Yolanda was lovely. Bernice King, Yolanda King and Martin Luther King III. The four children of the civil rights activist noticed "something was happening". Martin Luther King Jr., has died, said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center. 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. Andrea Waters King, Yolanda Renee King, and Martin Luther King III, attend the "March On for Washington and Voting Rights" on August 28, 2021 in. She was 51.. [24] She began speaking publicly at the age of ten and even filled in for her parents on occasion. She originally wanted $8,000, but negotiated down to $6,500. "[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. The play was directed towards teens and focused on the 10th year reunion of six high school friends. Sharpton said Yolanda King was a "torch bearer for her parents and a committed activist in her own right. She was one of the first black children at a previously segregated elementary school in Atlanta, where she endured racial epithets. [62] The two were young adults at the time and had a mutual friend who noticed they were both studying theater in New York and arranged for them to meet. Market data provided by Factset. 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". [86], On February 1, 1994, King attempted to speak before a diverse class of students at North Central College. [3] Yolanda and her mother were not harmed. 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." NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates offers a personal note on Yolanda King. King became a human rights activist and actress. The next-youngest, Dexter, leaned silently against his mother's side. In high school, she was president of her sophomore and junior classes and vice president of her senior class. In 1960, they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she was immersed in social upheaval. She wrote "Yolanda proved daily that it was possible to smile while wreathed in sadness. 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. The pair performed in around 50 cities a year and did lectures together, typically in school settings. [85] In October, she uttered her belief that her father's dream of integration was not fully understood. 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. 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 King is survived by her sister, the Rev. hide caption. May 16, 2007 / 5:32 AM Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Being a busy woman, her brother merely treated it as one of her hectic schedules. 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. She has mostly been in the news. Thank you for her voice. 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.. Martin Luther King Jr., and a friend of the gay community, died on May 15. The event was planned by survivors of the . [130] During a 2009 reunion at her alma mater Smith College, a walk was done in her memory by fellow alumnae.[131]. While in high school, she gained lifelong friends. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who melded her fathers message of racial equality and nonviolence with her own calling as an actor and a motivational speaker, died on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 51. In 1979, Yolanda met Attallah Shabazz, the eldest daughter of Malcolm X,[60] after arrangements had been made by Ebony Magazine to take a photograph of the two women together. [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". King served as a spokesperson for her mother during the illness that would eventually lead to her death. Photos honoring the life of Yolanda King from Santa Monica, California - ADVERTISEMENT - Play Music Pause Music Tweet; Help | Login | Sign Up; . <img src="http://members.cox.net/jnashatty/P1020216.jpg" height=450 width=600> 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. "She lived with a lot of the trauma of our struggle," said the Rev. Her mother tried to debunk this, insisting that they would still get it. Born on Nov. 17, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, King was just an infant when her home was bombed during the turbulent civil rights era. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed on a hotel balcony in Memphis. [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]. 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