Historic Ceremony at Birmingham Church Moves Dr. Alveda King to Reflect on Her Father’s Legacy

Atlanta, GA – Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life and niece of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., participated in the unveiling of historic markers Sunday at the church and parsonage of her late father, the Rev. A. D. Williams King. The Birmingham, Alabama, church was an integral part of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s, having been the site of several mass meetings.

“My father was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Ensley from 1961 to 1965, when he and my uncle fought in the struggle to make equality of opportunity real for all Americans,” said Dr. King. “Even after my family’s home at the parsonage was bombed, Daddy was unswerving in his dedication to God and to the cause of justice. While the ceremonies Sunday marked a historic period from our past, it reminded me of another kind of struggle for survival African Americans face today.”

“In the last forty-plus years, 15 million black people have been denied their most basic civil right, the right to life. Roughly one quarter of the black population is now missing. This hasn’t happened because of lynch mobs, but because of abortionists who plant their killing centers in minority neighborhoods and prey upon women who think they have no hope. The great irony is that abortion has done what the Klan only dreamed of.”

“It’s time that we remember the sacrifices of men like my father and my uncle who worked and died so that our children could live,” concluded Dr. King. “It’s time to stop killing the future and keep their dream alive.”

Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

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