Whole Life Times: Yolanda King

January 2005

Yolanda King

Living Her Father’s Dream

by David Ian Jenkins

Yolanda King relaxes on an overstuffed sofa in her Culver City townhouse. As the waning afternoon sun fills the room with warm light, she talks openly about her multifaceted life. Over her left shoulder hangs a portrait of her father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an ever-present reminder of her iconic roots. Other expressions of her dramatic journey are neatly placed throughout the living room: a painting of a vibrant and spirited woman above the fireplace, a biography of her father on the coffee table, and a surrealistic sculpture of the civil rights leader that suggests the oneness of all. Looking at Yolanda’s peaceful face, one cannot help but notice the strong resemblance to her parents — her father’s forehead and resolute brow; her mother’s sparkling and soulful eyes.

Like her parents, Yolanda lives the consummate purpose-driven life, focusing unwaveringly on positive personal and social change. Mostly she is on the move, accepting invitations to speak to organizations throughout the U.S., Europe, Africa and Asia. Now that the civil rights movement has evolved into the human rights movement, she continuously looks for ways to reach new audiences, always emphasizing peoples’ similarities. Her position is clear: “If we understood how intimate we really are, and related, I think it would make a huge difference.”

Now Yolanda is answering an inner calling to bring more harmony into the world through her Inner Peace Circles, a free program that offers tools for handling stress and creating greater peace in one’s life, available through her Web site at Yolanda-King.com. Participants work closely with a peace mentor via monthly telephone conferences. “Even when things are totally chaotic on the outside, I always have this sense that all is well, that it’s working like it should,” she says reassuringly.

Hopefully that conviction helped her to make peace with the recent closing of the inner city Martin Luther King, Jr./Drew Trauma Center, against which she passionately lobbied, but it isn’t something she’s willing to discuss.

The Early Years

The oldest of Martin and Coretta Scott King’s four children, Yolanda was born in 1955 in Montgomery, just two weeks before the Rosa Parks bus incident that stoked the fire of the civil rights movement in America. Her parents had met three years before in Boston — Coretta was studying to be a concert singer at the New England Conservatory of Music, while Martin was pursuing his doctorate in theology at Boston University. “My mother was an activist before my father was,” Yolanda reveals. “She always had that inclination and that spirit, so it was not coincidental that they hooked up.”

Until that heartbreaking day in April 1968 when her father was torn from her family by an assassin’s bullet, Yolanda and her siblings led a surprisingly conventional life. “Throughout my entire childhood, there was just the constant possibility of something happening. My parents totally shielded us from it. I grew up so normal... not paranoid or afraid. Medgar Evers’ children, for instance, were taught if they heard a loud noise to hit the ground because it was so dangerous. We grew up feeling an incredible sense of security and safety. I take my hat off to them.”

Yolanda fondly recalls the private side of Dr. King that few outsiders knew. “My father was a buddy-daddy. He played with us. He didn’t spend time talking about his work, what he was doing or what we should or should not do. I remember playing, having such fun. He was just a big kid with us. There was a fair that came through every year, the Southeastern Fair. That was our annual commitment — we were going to the fair ‘cause we could ride the roller coasters, other kinds of really shake-you-up rides. My father called them ‘faith machines.’

“[My father] was funny, too. Most people don’t see that side of him. His public persona was so somber and serious and passionate. Once he was off the stage and the public arena, he was a cut-up. He could have been a stand-up comedian, that’s how much he loved to joke and laugh.”

Though he has been physically absent for nearly 37 years, Yolanda’s close relationship with her dad has only deepened with time. “I am so constantly in touch with my father, that sometimes it almost feels like he is here, ‘cause I have conversations with him, I hear his voice. I definitely feel his spiritual guidance. He’s so much a part of my life.”

Achieving the Dream

Utilizing her skills as an accomplished actor, public speaker and teacher, Yolanda has created Achieving the Dream, her unique way of realizing Dr. King’s vision. In this dramatic stage performance, she plays eight characters representing the various movements for change in our country over the last 50 years. “Doing that kind of historical overview helps young people who were not there, who are so disconnected from all of it, for whom the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, the peace movement seems like ancient history.”

She relates an incident that happened after one of her performances: “A little boy came up to me. Initially he seemed so excited. ‘Are you really Martin Luther King’s daughter?’ I said ‘yes,’ and he looked at me as if I were a ghost. ‘Then why aren’t you dead?!’” She roars with laughter for a brief moment, then puts it in perspective. “To children, it’s eons ago. My sharing the story makes it real for young people. That’s important ‘cause I think it’s necessary for them to know the bridges that have brought us this far.”

This year will mark the golden anniversary of Rosa Parks’ bus ride into history. What challenges does Yolanda see for the next 50 years? “You can change laws, but it’s more difficult to change hearts, and that’s where I think the next frontier, the next level of evolution has to take place if we’re going to really get there as humanity, get to what my father called ‘the beloved community.’”

David Ian Jenkins is a freelance writer based in Santa Monica. He is currently writing a book about spirituality in the entertainment business.

Recommend this page to a friend

Top Ten pages recommended to friends: