Yolanda King 1955-2007

Born into the storm of the civil rights revolution, King grew into an activist in her own right. The eldest child of Martin Luther King Jr., she was 2 months old when the family's house was bombed during the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott and 12 when her father was shot. King carried her father's message of equality and nonviolence into her career as an actor and producer. Her company, Higher Ground Productions, sought to "educate, empower and entertain," and she often portrayed civil rights figures, like Rosa Parks, in the TV movie King; the widow of Malcolm X, in the film Death of a Prophet; and the daughter of Medgar Evers, in Ghosts of Mississippi. Acting, King said, "allowed me to find an expression and outlet for the pain and anger I felt about losing my father."