Most of us are familiar the story of Dr. Martin Luther King. But did you know that his mother was an accomplished civil rights activist on her own? She was killed by a deranged black man in 1974.
Alberta Christine Williams King was Martin Luther King Jr.’s mother. She was shot and killed at Ebenezer Baptist Church six years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Alberta King’s legacy has not been remembered for her activism, but rather for raising one of the most famous civil rights leader in history. Alberta King was born in 1903 to the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Georgia, and raised by a mother deeply involved in the church’s affairs. The entire King family was a pillar of the church for generations. Alberta attended a seminary high school, acquiring her teaching certificate at Hampton University in Virginia. When she returned to Atlanta in 1924, she announced her engagement to Michael King, during a Sunday service at Ebenezer. Although Mrs. King had obtained her teaching certificate, local school board’s regulations stated married women couldn’t teach, so she became more involved in the church. Mrs King was active in numerous civic and religious organizations, including the NAAC, the YWCA, the Women’s International League for Peace and Justice, and the women’s ministry coalition at the National Baptist association. She even coordinated Ebenezer’s first choir. Mrs. King was shot and killed on June 30, 1974. She was 69 years old.
Marcus Wayne Chenault, a 23-year-old black man from Ohio, shot her as she sat playing the organ at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Chenault stated that he shot Mrs. King because “all Christians are my enemies”, and claimed that he had decided that black ministers were a menace to black people. He said his original target had been Martin Luther King Sr., but he had decided to shoot his wife instead because she was close to him. Edward Boykin, one of the church’s deacons, was also killed in the attack, and a woman was wounded. Chenault was initially sentenced to death, but this sentence was later changed to life in prison, partially as a result of the King family’s opposition to the death penalty. On August 3, 1995, he suffered a stroke, and was taken to a hospital, where he died on August 19, at age 44. Mrs. King was buried at the South View Cemetery in Atlanta. Her husband, Martin Luther King Sr. died of a heart attack on November 11, 1984, at the age of 84, and is buried beside her.
This post is a reprint from Hill1News on February 1, 2018.
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