Daughter 7


 

Yolanda Denise

 

Daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.

 

 

"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!" Thats what my daddy said during the "I Have A Dream Speech" on August 28 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. My dad was always trying to protect me and keep me away from Segregation. He thought it was unfair and said I shouldn't have to go through it.

My life was really hard being the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. because there were a lot of people who didn't like My dad and didn't like what he believed. I remember when my mother told me a story when I was younger about when I was only 1 year old and my dad wasn't home. She told me that my dad was at a meeting. As soon as we finished dinner I heard a crash thought the window and a crackling noise. As soon as me and my mother heard that she picked me right up and we ran out to find our house in blazing, scorching hot flames. My dad got home to a surprise. When people crowded around the house they yelled "We must kill whoever did this to Martin Luther King Jr.!" After they said that my dad said "NO!" We will not fight them back with violence" I honored my dad for that. I was surprised that he didn't want to hurt them. My dad told me he said that because if he does violence to them they will only keep doing back to him.

 

Going back to the "I Have A Dream Speech", I was about 9 years old yet my loving father really touched my heart. When we got there my father was getting nervous while we went to go find our seat. All my siblings were running around and since I was the oldest I was expected to keep control of them. After I gathered all my brothers and sisters my dad was getting ready to start. He started off saying "I am happy to join you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration of freedom in the history of our nation." I thought about that for a moment. It's almost like he knew a that this was the biggest moment of his life and that it would go down in history. A lot of pressure. As he was talking I noticed that a lot of what he said was about how we should never look back and keep going and never turn around on the road to racial equality. During his speech I also noticed the crowd. The crowd was all rounded up and excited and I've never seen any other great leader that can stir up a crowd like my dad. I also realized that speech was also about me when he said "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation not judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character." Once he said those words I knew he was thinking of me when he wrote that. Like I said, it touched my heart and I knew that his dream would come true.

 

 

At 6:01 on April 4, 1968 the shot rang and echoed in my ears for a long time. My father was in his motel room in Memphis, Tennesee when he stepped out and a man shot him on the balcony right near the neck with a Sniper's bullet. My heart was crushed as soon as I saw my own dad crash against the balcony floor. My dad dedicated his life to racial equality and this is not what he deserved at all. One of his funeral services was held at Ebenezer Baptist Church where it just made me so sad and I'm sure my mother was sad too. I will always remember my father as a fighter who never gave up and always stood up for what he beleived in. I will try to pick up from where my father left off.

 

-Through Yolanda's eyes

By: Clara Easterlin

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