Niece of late civil rights leader committed to pro-life movement
Dr. Alveda King, the niece of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, campaigns for an end to abortion as a staff member of Priests for Life. She spoke at an Indiana Right to Life fundraiser on Feb. 22 in Indianapolis. Her late uncle dedicated his life to the civil rights movement, and she is committed to promoting the pro-life movement.
By Mary Ann Wyand
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tirelessly preached about civil rights and respect for all people regardless of race or nationality during the turbulent ’60s.
Forty years later, his niece, Dr. Alveda King, campaigns for the right to life and respect for all unborn babies regardless of the circumstances.
Like her late uncle, Alveda King said during a Feb. 22 speech in Indianapolis, she relies on prayer and Scripture to sustain her as she tries to change minds, convert hearts and save souls in the spiritual war against the culture of death in contemporary society.
And, like her late uncle, she dreams of the day when every person—born or unborn—is loved and respected.
The mother of six children and grandmother said she feels called to ministry in the ongoing Christian battle against abortion, which has decimated a generation of Americans.
National statistics indicate that more than 47 million unborn babies have been killed since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions in 1973 that legalized abortion during all nine months of pregnancy.
King said the African-American community has been especially hard hit by abortion.
She is a spokeswoman for Priests for Life, which was founded by Father Frank Pavone to publicize the truth about abortion, save the lives of unborn babies, and spare expectant mothers in crisis pregnancies the heartache of living the rest of their lives with the knowledge that they chose to kill their children.
Before opening her Bible, King took a deep breath and smiled at pro-life supporters attending the Indiana Right to Life fundraiser.
She began her keynote speech by singing an old
African-American spiritual and walking slowly around the room to envelope the assembly in prayer.
“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen,” she sang as people joined in. “Nobody knows but Jesus. Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Glory hallelujah. ...”
In the midst of trouble, King said, the Lord reaches out to help us and gives us strength for our journey.
“Dr. [Martin Luther] King said that the Negro cannot win if he is willing to sacrifice the futures of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety,” she said. “He was really, truly a servant of the Most High God who loved and served Jesus Christ and depended on the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.”
The daughter of slain civil rights leader Dr. A. D. King and Naomi Barber King, she is a member of Believers’ Bible Christian Church in Atlanta and is the founder of King for America Inc., which assists people in enriching their lives spiritually, mentally, personally and economically.
“I’m post-abortive,” she said. “I’ve had two abortions [in 1970 and 1973]. Looking back on it, they said it was a blob of tissue and won’t hurt. … [But] abortion hurts a lot. They also didn’t tell me there was going to be a connection to breast cancer, cervical cancer, depression, … broken relationships [and] not bonding with my other children. So everybody suffered as a result, but that cycle [of pain] was broken … by the Spirit of God.”
Ironically, King said, her birthday is Jan. 22, the date that the Supreme Court justices approved legalized abortion.
“After I had my second abortion, I was Miss Pro-Choice Queen for years,” she said, in spite of the King family’s belief in the civil rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“In 1983, I was born again and I had a confrontation with the living God,” she said. “I repented and said, ‘God, this was wrong and I’m so sorry.’ … [I realized then that] God had forgiven me and so I became—over those years from 1983 to today—increasingly a pro-life speaker.
“I met Father Frank Pavone on the road,” she said, “and he was quoting Martin Luther King’s Christmas speech and his letter from the Birmingham jail about infanticide.”
When the Holy Spirit “found her,” King said, she felt called to direct African-American outreach as a pastoral associate for Priests for Life.
As part of her two-day Indiana trip, King shared her pro-life testimony with legislators at the Indiana Statehouse.
“We cannot pull back,” she said. “We cannot stop. We have to pray. We have to be honest. … We have to tell the truth [about abortion]. … There’s so much that we can do, so much we must do, and we’ve got to do it together. … We can cry out to God on our knees and say how sorry we are. We should, we must, do that. America is going to have to do that.”
Sally Williams, director of urban outreach for Indiana Right to Life, introduced Alveda King.
“Thirty-five percent of abortions [in the U.S.] are performed on African-American women,” Williams said, “and we only make up 12 percent of the population. In Indianapolis, out of every 10 African-American pregnant women, seven of us will abort our children. … Why?
“… Proverbs 24, [verses] 11-12, says, ‘Rescue those being led away to death,’ ” Williams said. “That means spiritual and physical death. … Abortion hurts women. The Church and the community need to be educated. … Our job in this urban outreach initiative is to go out and … educate [people] on the value of life before abortion and after abortion. It’s not over. I heard a lady say, ‘As long as we’re on this side of heaven, we will always be hurting from our abortion experience.’ ” †
