Alveda King, the niece of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., wrote an op-ed for Fox News, explaining why she is forever grateful on Mother’s Day.
“On Mother’s Day this year I want to thank my mother for the most precious gift: My life,” she wrote. “She gifted me with my life, even though at first she was uncertain about it, and even though she had to change the plans she had made for herself and her future.”
Mrs. King explained that her mother, Naomi Barber, fell pregnant with her in 1950 when she courted her father, Rev. A.D. King.
Barber was a freshman at Spelman College in Atlanta and she had big dreams, King said.
“But as their relationship got more serious, they made the choice not to wait until the wedding night. When she realized she was pregnant, her first thought was to have an abortion.
“My grandmother suggested seeking the counsel of their minister, who just happened to be the man who would be my paternal grandfather, Rev. Martin Luther King Sr.
“My Uncle Martin – Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. – famously had a dream that helped change the nation. My grandfather also had a dream, and it helped save my life.
“Daddy King, as he’s known in the family, told my mother, ‘Naomi, you can’t abort this baby. I saw her in a dream three years ago. She is not a lump of flesh. She is a little girl with light skin and bright red hair.’ That was me.”
Read more at Fox News.
