Alveda King

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 convince her to keep her child. 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 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. The cause of death was listed as an accidental drowning.

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."

Education

King studied journalism and sociology as an undergraduate, and she received a Master of Arts degree in business management from Central Michigan University. She received an honorary doctorate from Saint Anselm College.

Public office

From 1979-83, King represented the 28th District in the Georgia House of Representatives. The district included Fulton County, and King served as a Democrat.

In 1984, Alveda King ran for the seat of Georgia's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. The 5th Congressional seat, at the time of King's campaign was held by Wyche Fowler. Andrew Young, who held the seat prior to Fowler, endorsed Hosea Williams, one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s most trusted lieutenants and perhaps best known for organizing and leading the first Selma March.

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." She did not withdraw. With the black vote split, Fowler defeated both King and Williams in the primary. That was the last time she ran for elective office. However, since then, she has publicly stated that she is a Republican.

Pro-life activism

King has been a pro-life speaker since 1983 and often speaks on college campuses about abortion issues and her personal experiences with abortion. King had two abortions and attempted to get a third one. She joined the pro-life movement, pushing to offer women alternatives to abortion. Angela D. Dillard classifies King as among "prominent black members of the Religious Right".

Restoring Honor rally

On August 28, 2010, King spoke at Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial. Before the rally King explained to the Christian Science Monitor that speaking at the rally was a chance to engage in freedom of speech and to praise Abraham Lincoln, who "led this fledgling nation out of slavery, and made my people free." 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."

Presidential politics

In 1984, King supported the Rev. Jesse Jackson for president.

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." She co-founded Women for Cain.

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 Lewis, and everyone including leaders."

Abortion

Alveda King has said, "Mrs. Coretta Scott King knew that her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was pro-life" despite his winning the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood in 1966. In 1994, according to Fox News, Alveda King has "long argued" that Dr. King was a Republican. She later blogged that MLK was politically independent.

After civil rights leader Rosa Parks died in 2005, Alveda King claimed Parks was a symbol for the pro-life movement (although she had served on the Board of Advocates of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America). Alveda King once wrote: "Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood once said, 'Colored people are like human weeds and are to be exterminated'."

Same-sex marriage

King has spoken out against same-sex marriage. Her position is outlined in her article, "Human Sexuality: It All Started With An Apple!" She wrote, "My dad A.D. King, Uncle MLK, and Granddaddy King passed on to me their beliefs on biblical marriage. 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... It's time to start from scratch and lay the foundation all over again."

Personal life

She has six living children.

Works

King has written the following books:

King has produced the following musical works:
She released the CD, Let Freedom Ring in 2005, and she has appeared in film and television as both Alveda King and Alveda King Beal.
The Human Experience, a 2010 documentary film, featured commentary from King.

She co-produced the video "Latter Rain" (2005) and co-executive produced PRAY for AMERICA (2015)

Ms King also appears in the 2016 movie: Hillary's America, discussing how the democratic party has approached issues of most relevance for black citizens in America.