Yolanda Renee King, the 9-year-old granddaughter of Martin Luther King jr took to the stage during the March for our Lives protest to speak out against gun violence in America. She surprised the crowd by coming out to deliver a speech amongst the students impacted by the constant gun violence and stood with Jaclyn Corin, a survivor of the Parkland shooting.
“I have a dream that enough is enough”
Her 2018 speech beautifully echoed what were arguably the most famous words spoken by her grandfather whilst also including a fantastic twist of her own. She said “My Grandfather had a dream that his four little children will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream that enough is enough and that this should be a gun free world, period.”
She then went on to encourage the crowd to join her in an affirmation as she exclaimed “Spread the word! Have you heard? All across the nation, we are going to be a great generation.” After making them repeat it as though they “really really” meant it, twice, she hugged Jacylyn and the two of them left the stage together. Yolanda wasn’t the only King family member there. Bernice King, activist and daughter of Martin Luther King shared posts of herself at the rally on social media, expressing that her niece “truly represented the King family.” The 9-year-old also expressed in an interview with CNN, alongside her father Martin Luther King III, that her school practices a variety of lockdown drills and that “it’s unfortunate that people have guns and they use them to hurt people”. Her speech can be watched here:
