Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Yolanda King Dead at 51

The oldest child of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King died late yesterday, apparently due to heart problems. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that according to Rev. Joseph Lowery, one of King family's closest friends, Yolanda King, 51, died in Santa Monica, California.

plez sez: i was born in the early 60's in upstate NY and i'm most definitely a child of the civil rights movement. i am proud of the accomplishments of Blacks over the past 40 years and a lot of the credit for our advances goes to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who i consider to be the greatest American hero. i am saddened by the loss of his oldest daughter.

none of the King children have married and none have any children. it appears that the great burden of the legacy of being born a King will find its resting place with his children, as the momentum of the civil rights movement died along with Dr. King.

rest in peace, Yoki.

5 comments:

Dangerfield said...

Good post plez she will be missed.

endangered coffee said...

It's almost impossible to imagine the burden of being the child of someone like Dr. King. I think it must be much easier to be the child of a president (heck, there's a new one every 4 or 8 years, and you could even end up prez like dad) than to be the child of a truly one-in-a-lifetime figure. It seems as though the King children have handled that burden with grace.

plez... said...

mark,
thanks for dropping by.

EC,
you are so right, i cannot imagine how all of the King children lasted this long (close to 40 years after their father's assassination) without becoming a "nut case." to be honest, i think an unfair burden are usually placed on the children of famous people and great leaders; a parent's passion is not necessarily a genetic trait OR something that gets passed down.

Lord knows that we would've been better off without the presidency of Bush (the son)!

Eddie G. Griffin said...

Our condolences also... from Fort Worth, Texas

CapCity said...

The family is in my prayers. It's sad that none of the children have married and bore children to carry on the legacy...but Dr. King & Family have made such a monumental impact on the world we ALL carry on the legacy, really.