Gary presents MLK's daughter with key to the city
As she accepted Gary's key to the city, Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., reminisced on her father's philosophy and legacy.
'He left us with so much, and that's why I'm honored to carry that legacy,' Bernice King said. 'I'm asked the question quite often, 'What is your legacy?' And I think, 'Do you not realize I inherited it?''
On Friday, Gary Mayor Eddie Melton presented King with Gary's key to the city. State Sen. Mark Spencer, D-Gary, also recognized King with a proclamation from the state of Indiana.
'It's both my duty and deep honor to stand on behalf of our state to recognize a woman whose voice and vision continue to shape our national conscience,' Spencer said.
King is her parents' youngest child, and she's a lawyer, minister and CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
King said she's visited Gary multiple times, including as an intern for former Rep. Katie Hall, who helped establish Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a national holiday in 1986.
Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Gary three times, Melton said Friday, with the first in 1959, when he was given the key to the city by former Mayor George Chacharis.
Martin Luther King, Jr. returned in 1962 for the City-Wide Freedom Rally, where he spoke about acts of racial injustice throughout the U.S. In 1966, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at St. John Baptist Church and encouraged Gary residents to join him at Soldier Field for a march demanding justice on issues of housing, welfare, education and jobs.
Melton called Bernice King a peace advocate and said it was a great honor to welcome her to Gary on Friday.
'Through her leadership, the King Center has reached and empowered more than half a million people globally,' Melton said. 'Dr. King's work has created a lasting legacy in communities in the areas of youth engagement, civic leadership and public policy.'
On Friday, King encouraged Gary residents to remember her father's philosophy and methodology of nonviolence, especially during the current changing political climate.
'In very challenging, difficult times he immersed himself in nonviolence,' King said. 'It was not just something he picked up as a tactic to be utilized in various campaigns and demonstrations. … It was a way of life, starting with the way you think, and then it goes out the way you speak and engage.'
King is committed to carrying her father's legacy, and she wants to remind people how important it is to focus on civil and human rights.
Some work might be nettlesome, King said, but it's necessary if people are passionate about human rights and the future.
'We organize around passion, which is not lasting, but we don't organize around stress,' King said. 'We have to know what we're facing, so that we can decide what's needed.'
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