Alveda King

Alveda Celeste King (born January 22, 1951) is an American activist, author, and former state representative for the 28th District in the Georgia House of Representatives.

Alveda King
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 28th district
In office
1979–1983
Preceded byVirginia Shapard[1]
Succeeded byBob Holmes[2]
Personal details
Born
Alveda Celeste King

(1951-01-22) January 22, 1951
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (1990s–present)
Other political
affiliations		Democratic (c. 1970s–1990s)
Spouse(s)Eddie Clifford Beal (divorced)
Jerry Ellis (divorced)
Israel Tookes (divorced)
Children6
ParentsAlfred Daniel Williams King
Naomi Ruth Barber
RelativesAlberta Williams King
(paternal grandmother)
Martin Luther King Sr.
(paternal grandfather)
Yolanda King (paternal first cousin)
Dexter King (paternal first cousin)
Bernice King (paternal first cousin)
Martin Luther King III
(paternal first cousin)
ResidenceAtlanta, Georgia
Alma materCentral Michigan University (M.A.)
OccupationMinister, activist, author
WebsiteOfficial website
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King at the 2010 Restoring Honor rally

She is a niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and daughter of civil rights activist A. D. King and his wife, Naomi Barber King. She is a Fox News Channel contributor. She once served as a senior fellow at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, a conservative Washington, D.C., think tank. She is a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives and the founder of Alveda King Ministries.

Childhood and family

Alveda King was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the first of five children of A. D. King, the younger brother of Martin Luther King Jr., and his wife Naomi (Barber) King. King says her mother wanted to abort her so she could continue college, but her grandfather was able to persuade her to keep her child.[3] When she was 12, her father became a leader of the Birmingham campaign while serving as pastor at the First Baptist Church of Ensley in Ensley near Birmingham, Alabama. Later that same year, King's house was bombed by opponents to the civil rights movement.

In 1969 her father, A. D. King, was found dead in the pool at his home.[4] The cause of death was listed as an accidental drowning.[5][6][7][8]

Martin Luther King Sr. wrote in his autobiography, "Alveda had been up the night before, she said, talking with her father and watching a television movie with him. He'd seemed unusually quiet . . . and not very interested in the film. But he had wanted to stay up and Alveda left him sitting in an easy chair, staring at the TV, when she went off to bed. . . . I had questions about A. D.'s death, and I still have them now. He was a good swimmer. Why did he drown? I don't know—I don't know that we will ever know what happened."[9]

Education

King studied journalism[10] and sociology as an undergraduate and received a master of arts degree in business management from Central Michigan University. She received an honorary doctorate from Saint Anselm College.[11]

Public office

From 1979-82, King represented the 28th District in the Georgia House of Representatives.[12] The district included Fulton County,[13] and King served as a Democrat.[14]

In 1984 King ran for the seat of Georgia's 5th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.[15] King challenged incumbent Representative Wyche Fowler. Fowler's predecessor, Andrew Young, endorsed Hosea Williams, who also challenged Fowler in the primary; Williams was one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s most trusted lieutenants and perhaps best known for organizing and leading the first Selma March.[16]

Coretta Scott King did not endorse her niece. Young, who had given up the seat to serve as U.S. ambassador to the UN, and Williams approached King and asked her to end her campaign for the seat so that she could dedicate more time to her family. Young later apologized for what he called "some blatantly chauvinistic remarks."[17] She did not withdraw. With the black vote split, Fowler defeated both King and Williams in the primary. It was the last time she ran for elected office. However, since then, she has publicly stated that she is a Republican.[18]

King is a member of the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission, having been nominated to the position by President Donald Trump in 2018.[19]

Presidential politics
King with President Donald Trump in 2018

In 1984, King supported the Reverend Jesse Jackson for president.[15]

In 2012, King was a supporter of Herman Cain for president and defended him from sexual harassment claims, saying, "A woman knows a skirt-chaser" and "Herman Cain is no skirt-chaser."[20] She co-founded Women for Cain.[21]

King voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, stating, "I pray that all polar opposites learn to Agape Love, live, and work together as brothers and sisters—or perish as fools. While I voted for Mr. Trump, my confidence remains in God, for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Prayers for president-elect Trump, Congressman John Lewis, and everyone including leaders."[22]

Views and activism

Anti-abortion activism

King is an anti-abortion activist. She had two abortions before adopting anti-abortion views following the birth of one of her children and her becoming a born-again Christian in 1983.[23] King frames the issue as one of racial discrimination;[24] she has referred to abortion as "womb-lynching"[23] and accused Planned Parenthood of profiting from "aborting black babies."[25] King is director of the activist group Civil Rights for the Unborn and is director of Priests for Life's African American outreach.[25] In 1996 she denounced her aunt Coretta Scott King for her support for abortion rights.[26] Angela D. Dillard classifies King as among most prominent black figures in the American religious right.[27]

In 1994, according to Fox News, Alveda King has "long argued" that Dr. King was a Republican;[28] she later wrote that she regretted the statement, writing "I said that without having all the facts" and noting that King in fact was neither a Democrat or a Republican.[29]

After civil rights leader Rosa Parks died in 2005, Alveda King called Parks an inspiration for the anti-abortion cause, likening the injustice of racial segregation to abortion.[30]

2010 "Restoring Honor" rally

King spoke at Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial in August 2010.[31][32] ABC News reported that in King's speech, she hoped that "white privilege will become human privilege and that America will soon repent of the sin of racism and return itself to honor."[26]

Opposition to same-sex marriage

King has spoken out against same-sex marriage. In 2010 she equated same-sex marriage to genocide at a rally in Atlanta, saying, "We don't want genocide. We don't want to destroy the sacred institution of marriage."[26] In a 2015 essay, she wrote that "life is a human and civil right, so is procreative marriage. . . . We must now go back to the beginning, starting with Genesis, and teach about God's plan for marriage."[33]

Personal life

King is African-American.[25] She has been married and divorced three times. Her first marriage was to Eddie Clifford Beal, her second marriage was to Jerry Ellis, and her third marriage was to Israel Tookes. She has six children.[11]

Works

King has written the following books:

  • For generations to come: Poetry by Alveda King Beal (as Alveda King Beal) (1986)
  • The Arab Heart (as Alveda King Beal) (1986)
  • I Don't Want Your Man, I Want My Own (2001)
  • Sons of Thunder: The King Family Legacy (2003)
  • Who We Are In Christ Jesus (2008)
  • How Can the Dream Survive If We Murder the Children?: Abortion is Not a Civil Right! (2008)
  • King Rules: Ten Truths for You, Your Family, and Our Nation to Prosper (2014)
  • King Truths: 21 Keys To Unlocking Your Spiritual Potential (2018)

King produced the musical CD Let Freedom Ring in 2005.[34] She has appeared in film and television as both Alveda King[35] and Alveda King Beal.[35] The Human Experience, a 2010 documentary film, featured commentary from King. She co-produced the video "Latter Rain" (2005)[36] and co-executive-produced Pray for America (2015).[37][38]

See also

References
  1. Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, 1, 1978, p. 2743
  2. Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, 1, 1983, p. 1966
  3. Alveda King (January 22, 2008). Alveda King talking about abortion. In front of the Supreme Court building. Event occurs at 04:40. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  4. Taylor Branch (September 4, 2010). "Dr. King's Newest Marcher". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2010. in fact A. D. King drowned at home after a long bout with alcohol and depression.
  5. "The Rev. A. D. Williams King". Time. August 1, 1969. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
  6. "Bomb Hits Home in Birmingham". The New York Times. August 1, 1963. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  7. "Introduction in Papers". Introduction in Papers. 1 (26): 43.
  8. "A Rights Activist". Thomas A. Johnson, New York Times. July 22, 1969.
  9. King, Martin Luther, Sr.; Riley, Clayton (1980). Daddy King An Autobiography. Morrow. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-688-03699-7.
  10. Hamilton Bims (1974). "'He Never Gives Us More Than We Can Bear'". Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. 29 (12): 38. ISSN 0012-9011.
  11. "Dr. Alveda C. King". Priests for Life. Archived from the original on August 30, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  12. Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, 1, 1979, p. 2059
  13. "Women in the Georgia House of Representatives, 1923 – 2000". Georgia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  14. Denvir, Daniel (August 27, 2010). "Meet MLK's Glenn Beck-loving niece". Salon. Archived from the original on August 30, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  15. Company, Johnson Publishing (April 23, 1984), "Alveda King Beal Seeks A Congressional Seat, Supports Jesse Jackson", Jet, 66 (7), p. 13
  16. "Reverend Hosea Williams". Martin Luther King, Jr National Historic Site. National Park Service. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  17. "Campaign Notes; 'Chauvinistic Remarks' Conceded by Young". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 12, 1984. Retrieved August 29, 2010. The Mayor also conceded that when Mrs. Beal said she objected to his "chauvinistic attitude," he had told her that her uncle, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and her father, the Rev. Alfred King, were "male chauvinist pigs, too."
  18. When I was a Democrat: "I've been a Democrat, and I've been a Republican. I've even considered being an independent.Today, I'm just a Christian."
  19. Ernie Suggs, President Trump nominates Alveda King for Frederick Douglass commission, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (February 7, 2018).
  20. "Cain supporter insists 'Herman Cain is no skirt-chaser'". Cain 2012. November 30, 2011. Archived from the original on January 4, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  21. Lauren Fox (December 2, 2011). "Herman Cain Gets Women to Counter Sex Harassment Claims". US News and World Report. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  22. Chasmar, Jessica (January 16, 2017). "Alveda King, MLK's niece: 'I voted for Mr. Trump'". Washington Times. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  23. Jacob, Jennifer (October 31, 2009). "Alveda King visits Meridian with pro-life message". Meridian Star. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  24. Vanessa Williams (January 28, 2017). "Black activists look to Trump, GOP as allies in the fight against abortion".
  25. Black pro-life leaders hold rally outside Planned Parenthood in D.C., Catholic News Service (December 7, 2016).
  26. Dolak, Kevin (August 28, 2010). "Alveda King Speaks at Glenn Beck's DC Rally". ABC News. Archived from the original on September 4, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  27. Dillard, Angela D. (2002). Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Now?: Multicultural Conservatism in America. New York City: New York University Press. p. 164. ISBN 0-8147-1940-6.
  28. Abrams, Joseph (July 14, 2009). "Billboard Claiming Martin Luther King Was Republican Angers Black Activists in Houston". Fox News. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  29. Alveda King (October 14, 2013). "Put the Political Strife out to Pasture". Newsmax.
  30. "Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks dies at 92, pro-life leaders call her inspirational", Catholic News Agency; accessed October 26, 2015.
  31. MacAskill, Ewen (August 28, 2010). "US right claims spirit of Martin Luther King at Lincoln Memorial rally". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 29, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  32. King, Alveda (August 26, 2010). "Glenn Beck 8/28 rally: It's a matter of honor". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on August 29, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  33. "Human Sexuality: It All Started With An Apple!". Priests for Life. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  34. "Alveda King". CD Baby. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  35. Alveda King on IMDb
  36. "Latter Rain".
  37. "PRAY for America Facebook page".
  38. "PRAY for AMERICA".
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