Martin Luther King III, lawyer and human rights advocate, will address BYU in a campus forum on Sept. 28 at 11:05 a.m.
King is the oldest surviving son of late civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. According to a BYU University Communications release announcing King's forum address, King served as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from 1997 to 2004. King has worked to promote 'Realizing the Dream,' a nonprofit focused on the elimination of poverty. In a 2020 interview with Essence magazine, King reinforced his dedication to continuing his father's legacy of social change.
'(My father would) be disappointed that we have hundreds of thousands and maybe even millions of people who are living out on the streets in the wealthiest nation on the planet,' King said in that same interview. 'He’d be greatly disappointed because he would know that we can, and we must, do better.'
King will join the growing ranks of Black forum speakers at BYU. Notable speakers from the past year and a half include jazz musician Marcus Roberts, macroeconomist Dambisa Moyo, and BYU sociology professor Ryan Gabriel, among others.
King's address will be broadcast live on BYUtv, BYUtv.org, KBYU-TV 11, Classical 89 FM, BYUradio 107.9 FM and SiriusXM 143.