12:54 PM Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Reaction to Bernice King at SCLC's Helm Mixed
Date: Thursday, November 05, 2009, 5:46 am
By: Denise Stewart, BlackAmericaWeb.com
At 46, the Rev. Bernice King is taking the helm of the civil rights organization that served as the engine driving change in the segregated South of the 1950s, '60s and '70s.
Until the day he was slain on April 4, 1968, Bernice King’s father, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was the power in that engine. He led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from its founding in 1957, spreading the impact of the Atlanta-based organization and the civil rights movement far beyond its original southern boundaries.
While blacks in America no longer are confronted regularly by lynchings or denied access to lunch counters or the front seats on buses, issues of racism exist. Observers in Atlanta and around the country now look to a different Rev. King to see how - and, indeed, if - she can make impact on the downtrodden masses in the same way her father once did.
Today, SCLC has an estimated 10,000 members in 17 states from Georgia to California. The organization, in recent months, has rolled out a new version of the Poor People’s Campaign, designed to bring attention to the needs of those who are living far below the poverty level. SCLC also has been vocal on other domestic issues, such as voting rights and police brutality.
The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, who served as SCLC president for 20 years, said he wished Bernice King well when she told him she wanted to seek the SCLC presidency.
“I asked her why. She told me she feels the calling,” Lowery told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “Now she has to clarify her position on critical issues then mobilize and energize the people.”
But William Jelani Cobb, a professor of history at Atlanta’s Spelman College, isn't sold on the idea. He cautions that name only is not enough to lead.
“She brings the King name, but she does not have activist credentials,” Cobb told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
“I don’t want to be part of the industry of naysayers, but there are some who think our leaders are untouchable. Black America should be a democracy where we ask questions of our purported black leadership,” Cobb said.
On Dec. 11, 2004, Bernice King, along with her pastor, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church's Bishop Eddie Long, led the "Reigniting the Legacy," a march meant to show opposition to same-sex marriage as part of a church-centered movement, culminating at her father’s resting place.
In a commentary nearly two weeks later titled "A Daughter Sullies Her Father's Legacy," cultural critic Earl Ofari Hutchinson wrote, "The sight of the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., standing at the gravesite of her father with thousands of demonstrators to denounce gay marriage was painful and insulting. The Rev. Bernice King and the march organizers deliberately chose King's gravesite to imply that King might well have stood with her and them in their protest. Given her father's relentless and uncompromising battle against discrimination during his life, it defies belief that he would back an anti-gay campaign."
The Rev. Eric Lee, the Los Angeles chapter president, said in a statement last week that he hopes King will follow her parents' example with respect to the rights of lesbians, gays and transgender people.
"We know that her mother, Coretta Scott King, was supportive of LGBT equality, and we believe that Dr. King would have been as well," Lee said. "My hope is that her election is a sign that SCLC is returning to its spirit of equality for all people."
Kendra King (no relation), a professor of political science at Atlanta’s Oglethorpe University, says Bernice King has been falsely characterized as anti-gay.
“She participated in a pro-family rally, and the media turned it into .....
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I think the King Children would have more credibility if they had had real jobs. It seems that they never developed individually, but lived off their father's notoriety. I wish her well.
by
Nellis1908
November 6, 2009, 11:06 pm
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SCLC and other Civil Rights Organizations need new leaders who will try to improve life for our people. They must identify our problems and work to resolve them. Unity is the key and without it, all hope is gone. I wish Ms. King success!
by
SPF
November 5, 2009, 2:23 pm
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I know Dr. MLK is rolling over in his grave because his OWN children are fighting like cats and dogs over the estate. His entire philosophy was based on peace, and now his children are acting like fools.
by
MrsTeacher
November 5, 2009, 12:47 pm
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Jiggy- You're a real tool. Mrs. King defiantly needs to step back and evaluate what civil rights movement truly represented. A staple in civil rights is the belief that equality should be reserved for all people regardless of race, religion, or sexual preference during and after the movement. The fire and brimstone sermons and speeches will not work with the younger generation of Black Americans.
by
Dopamine
November 5, 2009, 12:09 pm
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Time will be the ultimate judge as to whether Bernice King was up to the task of being SCLC president.
by
Navi12
November 5, 2009, 11:34 am
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At 46, the Rev. Bernice King is taking the helm of the organization once led by her father, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (AP)
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