Martin Luther King III

Martin Luther King III (born October 23, 1957) is an American human rights activist, philanthropist and advocate. The oldest son of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, King served as the 4th President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from 1997 to 2004. Early life Martin Luther King III was born on October 23, 1957, at St. Jude's Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama to civil rights advocates Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. His mother had reservations about naming him after his famous father, "realizing the burdens it can create for the child," but King Jr. always wanted to name his son Martin Luther III. King's birth occurred as his father was speaking to members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and he announced his son's name after being told of the birth. King's birth caused much of his mother's time to be taken away from her artistry and she spent the remainder of his birth year caring for him and his older sister Yolanda. Martin Luther King III has three siblings: Yolanda, Dexter, and Bernice. They were raised in Vine City, an urban neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. When he was eight years old and only in the third grade, he began to endure racial comments and insults from a white boy in his class, who also happened to like to draw. When he approached the boy and complimented him on a drawing of his, the harassment ceased. King was ten years old when his father was assassinated. Years prior to his father's death, Harry Belafonte set up a trust fund for King and his siblings. King attended Spring Street Elementary School but transferred to The Galloway School following his father's assassination. King then attended Morehouse College, the same school where his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather attended. King is a fraternity brother/member of Alpha Phi Alpha, as was his father. He received his B.A. degree in political science from Morehouse College in 1979. King lived with his mother in his childhood home until his adulthood.