"Dancing on Higher Ground"
by Dan Wooding
July 3, 2007
HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -- I blinked with surprise when the dignified black woman was introduced to me at the 9th Annual MOVIEGUIDE® Awards Gala in Hollywood, California, on Easter Sunday, April 15, 2001."Dan, I'd like you to meet Yolanda King," one of MOVIEGUIDE® staff said. "She's the oldest daughter of the late, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."
Yolanda shook hands with me as I turned on my recorder to interview her. "Yolanda," I began, "you've grown up a lot since I last saw you in London. I interviewed your mother as you, and the other children, played around the room in the home of Canon John Collins, who was hosting you."
I added, "You know, it was the first interview I ever did as a journalist and I'll never forget the dignity of all of you in the face of such a terrible event. I was really nervous and your mother put me at ease."
That interview in London was many months after the murder of her father on April 4, 1968, when Dr. King was slain by a bullet from the gun of James Earl Ray, as he was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
Yolanda, who was born November 17, 1955, in Montgomery, was an infant when her home was bombed during the turbulent civil rights era.
Known since childhood as Yoki, she talked about her father and mother and also her life as an actor and producer. As an actress, she told me that she had appeared in numerous films and played Rosa Parks in the 1978 miniseries "King." She also appeared in "Ghosts of Mississippi," and she founded Higher Ground Productions.
"I am also an author and advocate for peace and nonviolence, just like my parents," she added.
Yolanda King's sudden death in Santa Monica, California, on May 15, 2007 shocked her family and friends and, of course, myself.
In the hours before she died, she had a meeting at her production company to talk about an upcoming play, "Dancing on Higher Ground," that focused on demystifying death.
King's business partner and life coach, Wanda Marie, said at the time that the play written by Chicago playwright Tanya White was the latest project for King's California-based company, Higher Ground Productions.
According to its Web site, Higher Ground seeks to incorporate King's "personal vision, her contribution to the King Legacy and her passion for arts and entertainment..."
Now Yolanda is "Dancing on Higher Ground" with her beloved mother and father. And what a legacy her family has left this violent world of ours!
You can get more information on her life and work at www.highergroundproductions.com.
© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.
