Penn State hosted a virtual conversation with Dr. Bernice King on Tuesday. King is the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, and serves as the CEO of The King Center, which was founded by her mother.
King talked about a new initiative The King Center launched last month and how she is continuing her parents’ legacy to promote nonviolent social change.
During this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, The King Center launched “Nonviolence 365.” King said the training course educates users on how to take a nonviolent approach to resolve conflicts.
“That is my proudest moment to be able to be a part of the beginning of the fulfilling of the words my father spoke in 1964 that he was not able to fully develop and that my mother in establishing The King Center started that foundation,” King said.
King said social movements like Black Lives Matter could benefit from adopting a nonviolence-based approach. She said many current movements have succeeded in driving action, “but I have not yet seen the change,” King said.
King said she is cautiously optimistic about the future. She said, her mother’s words, “the darkest hour is always before the dawn,” give her “hope and optimism” about what is to come.