| Bernice King | |
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Bernice King at Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial groundbreaking in 2006. Photo by Mark Blacknell. |
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| Born | March 28, 1963 Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Occupation | Currently President-Elect of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) |
Bernice Albertine King (born March 28, 1963) is the second daughter and youngest child of civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and Coretta Scott King.[1] Her older siblings are Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King, and the late Yolanda Denise King. Bernice is the only King child to become a minister. She was elected in 2009 as the President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), but declined in January 2011, citing disagreements with the organization's leadership.
Due to her profile and skill in public speaking, King has been asked to speak around the world. Ebony magazine named her as one of their Ten of Tomorrow future leaders of the black community. She is also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
Bernice was only five years old when her father died. At 17, she was invited to speak at the United Nations in the absence of her mother. She is a graduate of Douglass High School in Atlanta, attended Grinnell College in Iowa and she graduated from Spelman College with a degree in psychology.
King says she once considered suicide before God intervened. At the age of 24, she decided to become a minister and in 1990 received a Master's degree in Divinity from the Candler School of Theology and a Juris Doctor in Law from Emory University School of Law. King is a member of the State Bar of Georgia.[2]
With her brother Martin Luther King III, she has played an active part in reforming the Southern Christian Leadership Conference once led by their father. When she was elected President of SCLC on October 30, 2009, a position previously held by both her father and brother, she became the first woman to lead the group.
In 1996, King published a collection of her sermons and speeches called Hard Questions, Heart Answers which received a positive review from USA Today.
In 2000, she narrated the Lincoln Portrait at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Kiel.
In 2004, Bernice King participated in a march against same-sex marriage in Atlanta. This action was in contrast to the advocacy of her mother, Coretta Scott King and her older sister Yolanda Denise King, both long-time outspoken supporters of gay rights.
In 2006, King was with her mother when she died in a hospital in Mexico.
On January 30, 2007, one year after the death of her mother Coretta Scott King, Bernice King founded the Be A King Scholarship at Spelman College (Atlanta, GA) in honor of her mother's legacy. Bernice King donated $100,000 of her personal funds, while $75,000 was donated from Home Depot and $15,000 from New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. The scholarship will be awarded to two rising seniors at Spelman college who are majoring in music, education or psychology.
On December 14, 2007, at the State Bar of Georgia Headquarters, Bernice King was honored by the Georgia Alliance of African American Attorneys[1] by being presented with the "Commitment to Community" award for her work as an attorney and community leader.
On January 20, 2009, she joined the CNN Situation Room with her brother, Martin Luther King III, to discuss the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.
On July 7, 2009, Bernice spoke alongside her brother Martin Luther King III at the Staples Center in Los Angeles during a ceremony commemorating the life of Michael Jackson.
In 2008, Bernice King and her brother Martin Luther King III brought suit against their brother Dexter, who brought a counter-suit against them over mismanagement of funds from the King Center. Dexter King articulated his distress at Bernice King's conservative religious views as departing from their father's legacy.[2] In October, 2009, the lawsuits were settled out of court.
King was elected President and CEO of SCLC in October, 2009, but discord in the organization has prevented her taking that position.[3] She is a former elder at New Birth (resigned May 2011 [4]), a licensed attorney and member of the Georgia Bar,[5] and works as a mediator. Bernice King is not married and does not have any children.
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[Category:Martin Luther King family]