| Yolanda King | |
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Yolanda King speaking at the 2006 Out & Equal Workplace Summit. |
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| Born | November 17, 1955 Montgomery, Alabama |
| Died | May 15, 2007 (aged 51) Santa Monica, California |
| Spouse | None |
| Children | None |
Yolanda Denise King (November 17, 1955 – May 15, 2007) was the first-born child of Coretta Scott King and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Her younger siblings were Martin Luther King, III, Dexter Scott King, and Bernice Albertine King.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama to Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King, King was a human rights activist and actress. An alumna of Smith College, 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. She served on the Partnership Council of Habitat for Humanity, was the first national Ambassador for the American Stroke Association's "Power to End Stroke" Campaign, a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a sponsor of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Human Rights Campaign, and held a lifetime membership in the NAACP. King received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, a Master's degree in theater from New York University and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Marywood University. In 1978 she starred as Rosa Parks in the TV miniseries King (which was based on her father's life and released on DVD in 2005). King was a spokeswoman for the national stroke awareness association.
In the 1980s, King co-founded a theatre company called Nucleus, along with Attallah Shabazz (the eldest daughter of Malcolm X).[1]
Yolanda King co-edited a book, with Elodia Tate, titled "Open My Eyes, Open My Soul: Celebrating Our Common Humanity".[2][3] It was published by McGraw-Hill 2003.
King was an ardent activist for gay rights,[4][5] as was her mother, Coretta.
On May 15, 2007, King collapsed in the Santa Monica, California home of Philip Madison Jones, her brother Dexter King's best friend, and could not be revived. Her family has speculated that her death was caused by a heart condition. A public memorial for Yolanda King was held on May 24, 2007 at Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary in Atlanta. King was cremated.[6] She was 51.
On May 25, 2008, her brother Martin Luther III and his wife, Arndrea, became the parents of a baby girl and named her Yolanda, after his late sister.
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