Alveda King
Alveda Celeste King (born January 22, 1951 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a Christian minister, social activist and author and former member of the Georgia House of Representatives.
King is the oldest daughter of Reverend A. D. King and Naomi Barber King and the niece of Southern Christian Leadership Conference founder Martin Luther King, Jr. She lived in Birmingham while her father was pastor of First Baptist Church of Ensley. The family moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 1965 and back to Atlanta in 1968. On the evening before her father was found drowned to death in their back yard pool, Alveda had spent the early evening watching television with him.
She married the first of her three husbands that year. She studied journalism and sociology as an undergraduate and completed a master of arts in business management from Central Michigan University. In 1979 she was elected as a Democrat to the Georgia House of Representatives and supported Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign. In that election she challenged Wyche Fowler for the 5th Congressional District of Georgia seat which had been held by Andrew Young before he was appointed Ambassador to the United Nations. Young endorsed another challenger, Hosea Williams in the race. With the black vote split, Fowler won re-election.
Since then, King has identified with the Religious right and speaks against abortion and against gay marriage, specifically objecting to those who compare the struggle for LGBT rights with the Civil rights movement. She serves on the board of Georgia Right to Life and spoke at Glenn Beck's 2010 "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington D.C.
King supported Herman Cain in the 2012 presidential election and has claimed that her uncle, Martin Luther King, Jr, would support the Republican Party today (a view contradicted by historians). Similarly, she identified Rosa Parks, after her death, as a symbol of the pro-life movement, even though Parks had served on the Board of Advocates for the Planned Parenthood Foundation of America. King has also condemned the political views of her aunt, Coretta Scott King.
King has served as a Fellow at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution in Washington D.C. and currently serves as a Pastoral Associate for the Roman Catholic pro-life group, Priests for Life. She founded Alveda King Ministries, the advocacy group King for America and the A. D. King Foundation.
Publications
- Beal, Alveda King (1986) For Generations to Come: Poetry by Alveda King Beal
- Beal, Alveda King (1986) The Arab Heart
- King, Alveda (2001) I Don't Want Your Man, I Want My Own
- King, Alveda (2003) Who We Are In Christ Jesus
- King, Alveda (2008) Sons of Thunder: The King Family Legacy
- King, Alveda (2008) How Can the Dream Survive If We Murder the Children?: ABORTION IS NOT A CIVIL RIGHT!
- King, Alveda (2014) King Rules: Ten Truths for You, Your Family, and Our Nation to Prosper
References
- "Alveda King" (August 27, 2014) Wikipedia - accessed September 26, 2014
External link
- Alveda King Ministries website