Yolanda King, granddaughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks as her father Martin Luther King III smiles during the March on Washington, Friday Aug. 28, 2020, in Washington, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. (Olivier Douliery/Pool via AP)
By Micha Green
AFRO D.C. Editor
mgreen@afro.com
Although she never met her famous grandparents, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, or her aunt and namesake; Yolanda Renee King, at 12 years old, is evidence that the adage, “the apple doesn’t fall from the tree,” still rings true.
The youngest King, daughter of Martin Luther King III, initially waved her activism flag at the 2018, student-led, March for Our Lives, where she invoked her famous granddad and furthered his dream.
“My name is Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King. My grandfather had a dream that his four little children would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream that enough is enough! And that this should be a gun-free world, period,” she said on March 24, 2018.
She also spoke about the importance of youth engagement.
“Will you please repeat these words after me? ‘Spread the word! Have you heard? All across the nation. We. Are Going to Be. A Great Generation.’ Now I’d like you to say it like you really, really mean it! ‘Spread the word! Have you heard? All across the nation. We. Are Going to Be. A Great Generation.’”
Then at the Get Your Knee Off Our Necks March on Washington, King held her own at the same location where her grandfather had famously said he had “a dream.” She said Black Americans were moving to “a new phase of the struggle.”
“We have mastered the selfie and TikTok, now we must master ourselves. Less than a year before he was assassinated, my grandfather predicted this very moment. He said that we were moving into a new phase of the struggle- the first phase was Civil Rights and the new phase is genuine equality,” she said.
“Genuine equality is why we are here today and why people are coming together all across the world, from New Zealand to New Jersey. He said that we must not forget the days of Montgomery, we must not forget the sit-in movements, we must not forget the Freedom Rides, the Birmingham movement and Selma. Pop Pop King, we won’t,” the young granddaughter of the great civil rights leader added with great fervor and to roaring applause.”
