King; two brothers, Martin Luther King III and Dexter Scott King; and an extended family. After she suggested that he would most likely give it all away, King laughed with her mother. However, she was still misjudged and mistrusted because of her skin color, based on perceptions founded solely upon her relationship with her father. [45], At 15 she was subject to controversy when she appeared in the play The Owl and the Pussycat with a white male lead. Funeral arrangements would be announced later, the family said in a statement. Rest in peace Yoki! When asked what kind of world she would like to live in, King said she wished "people could love everybody". 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Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. "She lived with a lot of the trauma of our struggle," said the Rev. While in high school, she gained lifelong friends. When she returned home, she rushed to confront her mother about his death and even ignored her grandfather, Martin Luther King, Sr., to tell her mother what she had heard and that they would not get their "freedom now." Blame the Federal Reserve. Klein said the family did not know the cause of death but that relatives think it might have been a heart problem. She was 51.. He would be killed a scant three months later by an assassin's bullet. [19], King, and her brother "Marty", were enrolled in the fall semester of 1965 at Spring Street Elementary School, in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. Trending News All three of her siblings lit a candle in her memory. Yolanda died due to a chronic heart condition in 2007. [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. Yolanda King was the most visible of the four children during this year's Martin Luther King Day in January, the first since her mother's death. Yolanda King, who lived in California, was an actress, ran a production company and appeared in numerous films, including "Ghosts of Mississippi." She played Rosa Parks in the 1978 miniseries "King." In response, she pushed for "the goal" to be "color acceptance. 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. King recalled that her mother had been the main parent and dominant figure in their home, while her father was often away. [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. 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. Coretta had a blood clot move from her heart and lodge in an artery in her brain. News & Notes remembers Yolanda King, eldest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She passed away Tuesday at the age of 51. His youngest two children, Esther and Vernon, were vacationing with King and her family in Jamaica when they heard of his death. When the Associated Press asked how she was dealing with her mother's death, she said(via NPR), "I connected with her spirit so strongly. 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. after numerous attempts to explain the issue to her, Yolanda finally understood. I am in direct contact with her spirit, and that has given me so much peace and so much strength." Lawmakers and activists including Andrea Waters King , Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of Rev. All rights reserved. During the course of her lifetime, King's name was mispronounced to the point that it bothered her. He added she was "thoroughly committed to the movement and found her own means of expressing that commitment through drama. The family did not know the cause of death but that relatives think it might have been a heart problem, he said. She made lifelong friends while in the institution that would collectively be called the "Grady Girls". Active human rights worker. . Death 15 May 2007 (aged 51) Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California, USA. 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." We had cups of tea because it was so frigid that night, and then they were gone. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates offers a personal note on Yolanda King. "She was the first daughter of the civil rights movement and never shamed her parents or her co-activists.". In high school, she was president of her sophomore and junior classes and vice president of her senior class. 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. [12] After having not seen her father for five weeks while he was in jail, she finally was able to meet with him alongside both of her brothers for less than half an hour. [50] 683 Yolanda King Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO All Sports Entertainment News Archival Browse 683 yolanda king stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. In 1974, an apparent madman fired a gun in the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and killed her grandmother Alberta Williams King. Her brother Martin III was born in 1957; brother Dexter in 1961; and sister Bernice in 1963. When asked about how she was faring following her mother's death, Yolanda responded: "I connected with her spirit so strongly. This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial. Ms. King was meeting her brother Dexter King at a friends home when she collapsed and died. [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. Share Memory. [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. 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. [11] When she was 6 years old, she was saddened by classmates' remarks that her father was a "jailbird". [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. Martin Luther King Sr., refused to attend, but her mother supported her. Death . Her career as an actor and speaker combined her father's. 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 cause of death was believed to be heart disease. Yolanda King would have been 51 years old at the time of death or 59 years old today. [79] King stressed in 1992 that love would help people make their mark on the world. 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. Yolanda King, the eldest daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, has died in California, family friends said on Wednesday. . "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. "[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. [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. 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. Their play Stepping into Tomorrow was praised by supervisors as being "entertaining and enlightening." 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. She was an actress and writer, known for King (1978), JAG (1995) and Death of a Prophet (1981). Yolanda died in May. The four children of the civil rights activist noticed "something was happening". She stated in 2000 to USA Today, that her acting "allowed me to find an expression and outlet for the pain and anger I felt about losing my father,". She took classes taught by Manning Marable and Johnnella Butler, and became satisfied with her choice of a college. Her paternal grandfather, the Rev. She just moved upstairs." King and Kelly starred in three films together, HBO's "America's Dream" starring Danny Glover and Wesley Snipes, award-winning period film "Odessa," that deals with racial unrest in which King gives a stellar performance as a nanny who lost her son to racial violence, and in Rob Reiner's film "Ghosts of Mississippi" about the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers starring Whoopi Goldberg and Alec Baldwin, King and Kelly played the adult and child versions of Reena Evers. Ms. Kings consistent goal was to infect her work, including her films, with her familys deeper purposes. 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.". Leading up to her death, she was still active in the public eye. I am in direct contact with her spirit, and that has given me so much peace and so much strength.". } Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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. [108] After Coretta died on January 30, 2006, Yolanda, like her siblings, attended her funeral. 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." 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. After her hour-long presentation, she joined her sister and her aunt, Christine King Farris, in signing books. By the time she was an adult, she had grown to become a supporter of gay rights and an ally to the LGBT community, as was her mother. [29] King complimented her mother as a "brave and strong lady," leading to a hug between them. ", during a celebration that marked what would have been her father's sixty-fourth birthday. "[92], King attended and spoke at the Human Rights Campaign Detroit Gala Dinner of 2000. In life, she said, I had to be prim and proper and poised the King daughter. She allowed me to give myself permission to be me." 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. Four days later, she and her brothers accompanied their mother to appear at Memphis City Hall. King was scheduled to visit Houston this weekend to attend numerous events related to the "Power to End Stroke'' campaign sponsored by the local chapter of the American Heart Association, Houston Gulf Coast Division. 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. [4] Despite this, the front porch was damaged and glass broke in the home. The loss has not gotten easier in 50 years, but his three surviving children each bear it on their own terms. 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.". [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. "[127] Joseph Lowery stated; "She was a princess and she walked and carried herself like a princess. Coretta Scott King began to decline in health after suffering a stroke in August 2005. King made it clear that while she had not been "endeared" to the institution, she was still "grateful" for her experience. 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 credited with having her father's sense of humor.[1]. King became a human rights activist and actress. display: none; She asked her mother at this time, if she should hate the man who killed her father. "[70] [57] Her mother's support helped in starting her acting career. [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. Funeral arrangements would be announced later, the family said in a brief statement. She was born two weeks before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public transit bus in Montgomery, Alabama. 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. The movement was in her DNA. 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. As an actress, she appeared in numerous films and even played civil rights heroine Rosa Parks in the 1978 miniseries "King." 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. "[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. King served as a spokesperson for her mother during the illness that would eventually lead to her death. 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. Mrs. King said the children attended because they wanted to. Death photos of Yolanda King Seeing Spots May 24, 2007 1 2 Next Seeing Spots Joyful Woman! Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Yolanda King was born on November 17, 1955 and died on May 15, 2007. Houston is in for dust and gray skies as Texas haboob arrives, Oops! The civil rights leader and wife Coretta Scott King were parents to four kids: sons Martin Luther King III, 65, and Dexter, 61, and daughters Yolanda and Bernice, 59. Yolanda King, the eldest child of the Rev. Garrow says his first inclination when he heard of Yolanda's death was: This is it. [130] During a 2009 reunion at her alma mater Smith College, a walk was done in her memory by fellow alumnae.[131]. ATLANTA (AP) On April 4, 1968, a movement lost its patriarch when the Rev. She wrote her first play at 8, and her mother sent her to acting school the next year. Stepping into Tomorrow led to the formation of Nucleus in the 1980s, a theater company which King and Shabazz founded. With Yolanda King, she also founded a group named Nucleus, Inc. in 1977. You can help our automatic cover photo selection by reporting an unsuitable photo. 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