25 young people making noise for social progress
By Robin Lempel
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 24: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Student Jaclyn Corin (R) and Yolanda Renee King,, grand daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addresse the March for Our Lives rally on March 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, including students, teachers and parents gathered in Washington for the anti-gun violence rally organized by survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on February 14 that left 17 dead. More than 800 related events are taking place around the world to call for legislative action to address school safety and gun violence. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Yolanda Renee King
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left some impossible shoes to fill. But his granddaughter Yolanda Renee King is stepping into them, and she’s only 9 years old.
King really came to the public’s attention when she gave a powerful and inspiring speech at the March for Our Lives. “My grandfather had a dream that his four little children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream that enough is enough. That this should be a gun-free world. Period,” she said.
She also led the huge crowd in a chant saying, “Spread the word. Have you heard? All across the nation. We are going to be a great generation.”
But that’s not all King has done. Last month, King also hosted a group of child activists in Atlanta. She and Martin Luther King’s brother A.D. King’s great-granddaughter, 7-year-old Maryn Rippy, created an event for about 200 young activists three days after the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination.
“It is exciting to see these young people not following, but leading,” Martin Luther King III said at the event. “This is an interesting time: Some might say we’re divided, but yet somehow we’re coming together.”
“I think that he would be impressed about all the work that we’re doing,” King said on how her grandfather would feel about the social justice activism today on the 50th anniversary of his assassination, “but we’re not where we’re supposed to be.”