Martin Luther King Jr.’s sister dies at 95 – One America News Network

June 30, 2023 Roy Francis US 0

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 28: Christine King Farris, sister of late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., delivers remarks during the 'Let Freedom Ring' commemoration event, at the Lincoln Memorial August 28, 2013 in Washington, DC. The event was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images) — Christine King Farris, sister of late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., delivers remarks during the ‘Let Freedom Ring’ commemoration event, at the Lincoln Memorial August 28, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

OAN’s Roy Francis
2:07 PM – Friday, June 30, 2023

Christine King Farris, the last living sibling of Martin Luther King Jr. died on Thursday at the age of 95.

After her brother’s assassination in 1968, Farris worked for decades with his widow, Coretta Scott King, in order to promote and preserve his legacy.

“She may not have always been on the line of the march, but that was true with a lot of the heroes of the civil rights movement,” Marcellus Barksdale, a history professor at Morehouse College, said. “Because of the luminescence of Dr. King and Coretta Scott King, Christine kind of got dimmed by that, but she was no less important.”

Farris was born on September 11, 1927 in Atlanta and was the first child of the Reverand Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Christine Williams King.

Farris went on to help her brother’s widow build the King Center and helped teach his philosophy centered around nonviolent resistance. For years she never missed celebrating her brother’s birthday at Ebenezer Baptist church, where she was a member and where her father and grandfather also preached.

In 1960 she married Isaac Newton Farris, and the couple had two children, Angela Christine Farris Watkins and Isaac Newton Farris Jr.

Farris also wrote two children’s books about her own life, My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembering Growing Up With the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr., and March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World.

The King Center posted to Twitter on Thursday that it mourned the loss of the founding member, who also served as former vice-chair and treasurer.

Martin Luther King III also tweeted mourning her loss and saying that he, his wife, and his daughter were able to spent time with her in her final days.

Our family mourns the passing of my aunt, Willie Christine King Farris. As the eldest sibling of my father, Martin Luther King, Jr., Aunt Christine embodied what it meant to be a public servant. Like my dad, she spent her life fighting for equality and against racism in America.

— Martin Luther King III (@OfficialMLK3) June 29, 2023

“Aunt Christine embodied what it meant to be a public servant. Like my dad, she spent her life fighting for equality and against racism in America,” he tweeted. “She defied the odds that held back too many marginalized communities – going on to become a civil rights leader and acclaimed author. No stranger to adversity, Aunt Christine used the tragedies of the assassinations of her mother and brother to fight for change in America.”

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