5 interesting facts about Martin Luther King Jr.

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Monday, January 16, 2023

Has a granddaughter born in the 21st century

Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr., preaches at the Washington National Cathedral on January 18, 2022, in Washington, D.C. King spoke from the cathedral's Canterbury Pulpit, the same pulpit Martin Luther King Jr. spoke from on his last Sunday sermon before his death. | Win McNamee/Getty Images

The Kings had four children. It was not until 2008, about 40 years after King was assassinated, that his first, and thus far only, granddaughter was born.

Yolanda Renee King is the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King III and his wife, Arndrea. She was named after her aunt, Yolanda, who died in 2007.

For her part, Yolanda Renee King has also engaged in social and political activism, having advocated on issues including expanding voting rights and stricter gun control laws.

In an interview with NBC News last year, King believed that her grandfather's holiday should be used as "a day of service" rather than a day off.

"I think that instead of idolizing my grandfather, pick a service project and do something to help the community," she said. "It could be something as simple as picking up trash around your neighborhood park."