Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, was MU’s guest speaker at the 2020 Spring Convocation.
Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, was MU’s guest speaker at the 2020 Spring Convocation. Mr. King serves as an ambassador of his parents’ legacy of nonviolent social change and brought a message titled, “You Are Part of the Dream” to faculty, staff and students in Huff Concert Hall on Feb. 3. “You are not only part of the dream, you also are part of the movement to make it a reality. These young people, and college students in general, have a major role to play just as they did in the historic modern civil rights movement,” said King. Mr. King encouraged the audience to vote in the upcoming election and said, “use the power of the ballot to improve your lives.” King’s speech covered several topics which included the importance of Black History Month and envisioning a country no longer divided by race; a vision remanence of his father. King pointed to what he thinks is an example of what America can become. “When a tragedy such as a hurricane hits, you see Americans pitch in and help. No one ever ask, what color you are, what sexual orientation you are, or what political affiliation you’re with— that’s the real America, that’s America at its best.” After his speech, Mr. King sat down with Dr. Stanley Wearden and answered the president’s questions. Afterwards, Dr. Wearden presented Mr. King with a gift from the University.
MU Asked:
“What are some of your favorite memories of your father?”
“I’ll always remember being a part of the demonstrations he and his colleagues were involved in, but my favorite times with my father were the times when we gathered on Sunday mornings before he preached. He was a co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta with his father. And on the many Sundays when he preached, our favorite times were sitting down at breakfast and going through Bible verses and discussing issues of the day he and his team were working on to make our society better. I will always remember those periods.”
“What do you believe is the legacy of Dr. King and how do you strive to continue that legacy?”
“The legacy is really very broad. It is really the legacy of my dad and mom, because they were partners. Dad articulated a lot of the message, but mom lived another thirty years after him and was able to get help to establish the King Holiday and Martin Luther King Center. But, the legacy is really a legacy of love, respect and understanding and creating a nation where freedom, justice, and equality exist for all humankind. Obviously we have not achieved that yet, and there‘s a lot of work to be done for us to get there. But, the legacy and the message, resonates and is needed even more today, particularly the way our society and the political discourse has become uncivil. We can do far better. We are really scratching the bottom of the barrel at this point, and we need to find a way to rise like the phoenix again as a nation.”