Alveda King

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.{{cite video|people=Alveda King|date=January 22, 2008|title=Alveda King talking about abortion|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzTsrMTmRcY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/JzTsrMTmRcY |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|location=In front of the Supreme Court building|time=04:40|access-date=October 5, 2010}}{{cbignore}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/opinion/05branch.html |title=Dr. King's Newest Marcher |first=Taylor|last=Branch|author-link=Taylor Branch|quote=in fact A. D. King drowned at home after a long bout with alcohol and depression. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 4, 2010 |access-date=September 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119150022/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/opinion/05branch.html |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=live }} The cause of death was listed as an accidental drowning.{{cite news|title=The Rev. A. D. Williams King|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901197,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214143110/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901197,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 14, 2008|magazine=Time|date=August 1, 1969|access-date=November 1, 2007}}{{cite news|title=Bomb Hits Home in Birmingham|work=The New York Times|url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/king-alfred-daniel-williams|date=August 1, 1963|access-date=December 4, 2019|archive-date=January 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119193716/https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/king-alfred-daniel-williams|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|title=Introduction in Papers|volume=1|issue=26|page=43}}{{cite news|first=Thomas A.|last=Johnson|title=A Rights Activist|work=The New York Times|date=July 22, 1969}}

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{{nbsp}}... 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.{{nbsp}}... 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."{{cite book|title=Daddy King An Autobiography|author-link=Martin Luther King, Sr.|last1=King|first1=Martin Luther Sr. |first2=Clayton|last2=Riley|year=1980|publisher=William Morrow & Company|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-688-03699-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/daddykingautobio00king/page/192 192]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/daddykingautobio00king/page/192}}

King studied journalism{{cite journal|title=He Never Gives Us More Than We Can Bear|first=Hamilton|last=Bims|journal=Ebony|date=October 1974|volume=29|issue=12|page=38|issn=0012-9011|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|location=Chicago, Illinois|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JN4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA38}} 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.{{cite web|title=Dr. Alveda C. King|url=http://www.priestsforlife.org/staff/alvedaking.htm|website=Priests for Life|access-date=August 27, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830193318/http://www.priestsforlife.org/staff/alvedaking.htm|archive-date=August 30, 2010|url-status=live}}

From 1979 to 1982, King represented the 28th District in the Georgia House of Representatives.{{cite web|url=http://neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/legis-idx.pl?sessionid=7f000001&type=backdiv&byte=401428692|title=Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia|year=1979|volume=1|page=2059|access-date=August 29, 2010|archive-date=January 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119193736/http://neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/legis-idx.pl?sessionid=7f000001&type=backdiv&byte=401428692|url-status=live}} The district included Fulton County,{{cite web|title=Women in the Georgia House of Representatives, 1923 – 2000 |url=http://sos.georgia.gov/archives/what_do_we_have/wghr.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102113652/http://sos.georgia.gov/archives/what_do_we_have/wghr.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 2, 2007 |publisher=Georgia Secretary of State |access-date=August 27, 2010 }} and King served as a Democrat.{{cite web|last=Denvir |first=Daniel |title=Meet MLK's Glenn Beck-loving niece |url=http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/27/alveda_king_glenn_beck/index.html |work=Salon |access-date=August 27, 2010 |date=August 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830200941/http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/27/alveda_king_glenn_beck/index.html |archive-date=August 30, 2010 |url-status=dead }}

In 1984 King ran for the seat of Georgia's 5th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.{{cite magazine|title=Alveda King Beal Seeks A Congressional Seat, Supports Jesse Jackson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbQDAAAAMBAJ|magazine=Jet|date=April 23, 1984|page=13|volume=66|number=7|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|location=Chicago, Illinois}} 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.{{cite web|publisher=National Park Service|work=Martin Luther King, Jr National Historic Site|title=Reverend Hosea Williams|url=https://www.nps.gov/features/malu/feat0002/wof/Hosea_Williams.htm|access-date=May 16, 2012|archive-date=April 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413093201/http://www.nps.gov/features/malu/feat0002/wof/Hosea_Williams.htm|url-status=live}}

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."{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Campaign Notes; 'Chauvinistic Remarks' Conceded by Young|date=July 12, 1984|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/12/us/campaign-notes-chauvinistic-remarks-conceded-by-young.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 29, 2010|quote=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."}} She did not withdraw. Fowler defeated both King and Williams in the primary. It was the last time she ran for elected office. Since then, she has publicly stated "I've been a Democrat, and I've been a Republican. I've even considered being an independent. Today, I'm just a Christian."{{cite web|url=http://www.priestsforlife.org/africanamerican/blog/index.php/when-i-was-a-democrat|title=When I was a Democrat|first=Alveda|last=King|website=Priests for Life|date=October 19, 2009|quote=I've been a Democrat, and I've been a Republican. I've even considered being an independent. Today, I'm just a Christian.|access-date=December 6, 2014|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924081658/http://www.priestsforlife.org/africanamerican/blog/index.php/when-i-was-a-democrat|url-status=live}}

King is a member of the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission, having been nominated to the position by President Donald Trump in 2018.{{cite news|first=Ernie|last=Suggs|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/president-trump-nominates-alveda-king-for-frederick-douglass-commission/bSyulvENjNjzSsuF8aEySN/|title=President Trump nominates Alveda King for Frederick Douglass commission|newspaper=Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=February 7, 2018|access-date=July 2, 2018|archive-date=July 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702035632/https://www.ajc.com/news/president-trump-nominates-alveda-king-for-frederick-douglass-commission/bSyulvENjNjzSsuF8aEySN/|url-status=live}}

File:President Donald J. Trump signs the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park Act.jpg Donald Trump in 2018]]

In 1984, King supported the Reverend 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 "Mr. Cain does not chase skirts."{{cite web |title=Erin Burnett Outfront |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ebo/date/2011-11-29/segment/01 |website=transcripts.cnn.com |publisher=CNN |access-date=January 18, 2023 |archive-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119193718/https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ebo/date/2011-11-29/segment/01 |url-status=live }} She co-founded Women for Cain.{{cite web|title=Herman Cain Gets Women to Counter Sex Harassment Claims|first=Lauren|last=Fox|date=December 2, 2011|newspaper=U.S. News & World Report|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/12/02/herman-cain-gets-women-to-counter-sex-harassment-claims|access-date=October 26, 2015}}

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."{{cite news|last1=Chasmar|first1=Jessica|title=Alveda King, MLK's niece: 'I voted for Mr. Trump'|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/16/alveda-king-mlks-niece-i-voted-for-mr-trump/|access-date=January 16, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=January 16, 2017|archive-date=January 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116175913/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/16/alveda-king-mlks-niece-i-voted-for-mr-trump/|url-status=live}}

For the 2020 presidential election, King was an advisory board member of Black Voices for Trump.{{Cite web|last=Noor|first=Poppy|date=November 21, 2019|title=The strange world of Black Voices for Trump|url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/21/black-voices-for-trump-advisory-board|access-date=August 27, 2020|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=August 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200827050503/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/21/black-voices-for-trump-advisory-board|url-status=live}}

Angela D. Dillard classifies King as among the most prominent black figures on the American religious right.{{cite book|last=Dillard|first=Angela D.|title=Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Now?: Multicultural Conservatism in America|year=2002|location=New York City|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=0-8147-1940-6|page=164|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rjSIev7NEMUC}}

King is an anti-abortion activist. She had two abortions before changing her views following the birth of one of her children and her becoming a born-again Christian in 1983.{{cite web|last=Jacob|first=Jennifer|url=http://www.meridianstar.com/local/local_story_304013404.html|title=Alveda King visits Meridian with pro-life message|work=Meridian Star|date=October 31, 2009|access-date=August 28, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130128202142/http://www.meridianstar.com/local/local_story_304013404.html|archive-date=January 28, 2013}} King frames the issue as one of racial discrimination;{{cite news|first=Vanessa|last=Williams|title=Black activists look to Trump, GOP as allies in the fight against abortion|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/black-activists-look-to-trump-gop-as-allies-in-the-fight-against-abortion/2017/01/28/79b45010-e580-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 28, 2017}} she has referred to abortion as "womb-lynching" and accused Planned Parenthood of profiting from "aborting black babies."{{cite web|url=http://catholicphilly.com/2016/12/news/national-news/black-pro-life-leaders-hold-rally-outside-planned-parenthood-in-d-c/|title=Black pro-life leaders hold rally outside Planned Parenthood in D.C.|website=Catholic News Service|date=December 7, 2016|access-date=July 2, 2018|archive-date=July 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702035523/http://catholicphilly.com/2016/12/news/national-news/black-pro-life-leaders-hold-rally-outside-planned-parenthood-in-d-c/|url-status=live}} King is director of the activist group Civil Rights for the Unborn and is director of Priests for Life's African American outreach.

In 1996, she denounced her aunt Coretta Scott King for her support for abortion rights.

On September 22, 2020, King appeared in Birmingham, Alabama alongside political activists including Amie Beth Dickinson to present the Equality Proclamation. The document, signed on the 158th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation's signing, argued that the tactics and locations of abortion providers like Planned Parenthood were racially discriminatory. According to a document distributed by the group, King and the other signees believed that "the targeted practices of Alabama abortion providers are both discriminatory and disproportionately harmful to black mothers and their babies" and that a legal case could be made against abortion using the Tenth Amendment.{{cite web|last=Thornton|first=Henry|title=Black pro-life leaders gather in Montgomery, argue the next step for civil rights is ending abortion|url=https://yellowhammernews.com/black-pro-life-leaders-gather-in-montgomery-argue-the-next-step-for-civil-rights-is-ending-abortion/|work=Yellowhammer News|date=September 23, 2020|access-date=September 26, 2020|archive-date=January 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119193737/https://yellowhammernews.com/black-pro-life-leaders-gather-in-montgomery-argue-the-next-step-for-civil-rights-is-ending-abortion/|url-status=live}}

King spoke at Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally at the Lincoln Memorial in August 2010.{{cite web|last=MacAskill|first=Ewen|title=US right claims spirit of Martin Luther King at Lincoln Memorial rally|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/28/us-right-king-lincoln-memorial|work=The Guardian|access-date=August 29, 2010|date=August 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829173330/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/28/us-right-king-lincoln-memorial|archive-date=August 29, 2010|url-status=live}}{{cite news|first=Alveda|last=King|title=Glenn Beck 8/28 rally: It's a matter of honor|date=August 26, 2010|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0826/Glenn-Beck-8-28-rally-It-s-a-matter-of-honor|work=The Christian Science Monitor|access-date=August 29, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829044304/http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0826/Glenn-Beck-8-28-rally-It-s-a-matter-of-honor|archive-date=August 29, 2010|url-status=live}} 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."{{cite web|last=Dolak|first=Kevin|title=Alveda King Speaks at Glenn Beck's DC Rally|url=https://abcnews.go.com/print?id=11504453|publisher=ABC News|access-date=August 29, 2010|date=August 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904194941/https://abcnews.go.com/print?id=11504453|archive-date=September 4, 2010|url-status=live}}

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." In a 2015 essay, she wrote that "life is a human and civil right, so is procreative marriage.{{nbsp}}... We must now go back to the beginning, starting with Genesis, and teach about God's plan for marriage."{{cite news|title=Human Sexuality: It All Started with an Apple!|url=http://www.priestsforlife.org/library/5154-and-it-all-started-with-an-apple|access-date=October 26, 2015|publisher=Priests for Life|archive-date=January 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119193721/https://www.priestsforlife.org/library/5154-and-it-all-started-with-an-apple|url-status=live}}

King is African-American. 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.

King has alleged that her novel, The Arab Heart, was plagiarized in the 1988 film Coming to America.{{Cite press release|url=http://christiannewswire.com/index.php?module=releases&task=view&releaseID=84983|title=My Coming to America Story by Alveda King - Christian Newswire|access-date=March 12, 2021|archive-date=January 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119193739/http://christiannewswire.com/index.php?module=releases&task=view&releaseID=84983|url-status=live}}

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)
• Why Trump? Memoirs of a Journey of Faith, Hope and Love (2020)
• We're Not Color Blind: Healing the Racial Divide (2020) (co-author Ginger Howard)

King produced the musical CD Let Freedom Ring in 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/AlvedaKing|title=Alveda King|publisher=CD Baby|access-date=August 28, 2010}} She has appeared in film and television as both Alveda King{{IMDb name|63645}} and Alveda King Beal. The Human Experience, a 2010 documentary film, featured commentary from King. She co-produced the video "Latter Rain" (2005){{cite web|title=Latter Rain| date=September 28, 2006 |via = YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpW1cv3KLmg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/RpW1cv3KLmg |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} and co-executive-produced Pray for America (2015).{{cite web|title=PRAY for America Facebook page|via=Facebook|url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/PRAY-for-America/949984708397435?fref=ts|access-date=August 6, 2015|archive-date=January 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119193731/https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpages%2FPRAY-for-America%2F949984708397435%3Ffref%3Dts|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=PRAY for AMERICA|date=July 2015|url=https://itun.es/us/dqLG8}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

King portrayed Gaylee's mother in "Fifteen Forever"{{Cite web |date=July 4, 2022 |title="In the Heat of the Night" Fifteen Forever (TV Episode 1989) |url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0610611/fullcredits/cast |publisher=IMDb |access-date=July 4, 2022 |archive-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119193726/https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0610611/fullcredits/cast |url-status=live }} season 2, episode 19 of In the Heat of the Night, original air date April 25, 1989.

• Christine King Farris
• List of African-American Republicans
• Black conservatism in the United States

{{Reflist}}

{{wikiquote}}

• [http://www.alvedaking.com/ Alveda King Ministries]
• [http://www.AfricanAmericanOutreach.org African-American Outreach, Priests of Life]
• {{IMDb name|63645}}
• {{C-SPAN|51059}}

{{Martin Luther King |expanded=People}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Alveda}}

Category:1951 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century Baptists

Category:20th-century American women politicians

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Category:21st-century Baptists

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Category:African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:20th-century African-American women politicians

Category:20th-century African-American politicians

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Category:American Christian writers

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Category:Baptists from Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Central Michigan University alumni

Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats

Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans

Alveda

Category:Members of the Georgia House of Representatives

Category:Politicians from Atlanta

Category:Women state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:American women non-fiction writers

Category:Activists from Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:Black conservatism in the United States

Category:20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly