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Two of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s children, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, have spoken out amid Donald Trump‘s inauguration.
On Sunday, January 19, NBC News published an exclusive 31-minute interview with King III. About two minutes into the interview, King III was asked to share what he believes his father would think about the current state of the country.
“So even I, as the son, can only speculate,” King III explained. “None of us would actually know [but] what I can say is… we’ve seen a lot of chaos. Some of it constructive. Some of it destructive. I think dad would always to er on the side of how do we create constructive engagement, how do we build the beloved community?”
King III explained that his father would be “quite disappointed” that the country is where it is. However, he doesn’t believe his dad would be “surprised.” Additionally, the son of the civil rights leader explained that when tragedy strikes the nation, individuals come together. Once it’s over, everyone “goes back to their corners.” However, he would like to see continued unity and community beyond tragedy.
Per NBC New York, elsewhere during the interview, King III was asked to share what he’d be paying attention to amid Trump’s inauguration speech.
“He has said that he wants to create some [sense] of unity,” King III said, referring to Trump. “Now what that means is you gotta be in dialogue with everybody. If you really want to bring the nation together so that it is the manifestation of what we call ourselves… we’re not reflective of the ‘United States of America’ right at this moment…”
Social media users reacted to Martin Luther King III’s sentiments amid the holiday commemorating his father and Donald Trump’s inauguration in The Shade Room’s comment section.
On Monday, January 19, NBC News published an exclusive video interview with Bernice King. During the conversation, she spoke on Trump’s inauguration taking place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“Its wonderful that this occurs on the King holiday, the inauguration, because it reminds us of King,” she said. “It points us back to King. It says, ‘When we move forward, weve got to do it in the spirit of King.'”
Furthermore, for those feeling “defeated” amid Trump’s return to office, King also shared a few words of advice.
“We have to strategize. Weve been missing the strategy. Weve been missing the spirit of Dr. King,” she explained. “The spirit of Dr. King is nonviolence. And nonviolence is not just a posture, its a mindset. For us, we define it as a love-centered way of thinking, speaking, acting, and engaging that leads to personal, cultural, and societal transformation.”
