Alfred Daniel Williams King
| A. D. King | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
July 30, 1930 Atlanta, Georgia |
| Died | July 21, 1969 (aged 38) Atlanta, Georgia |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Morehouse College |
| Spouse(s) | Naomi Ruth Barber |
| Children |
Alveda Celeste King Alfred King, II (1952–1986) Derek B. King Darlene King (1956–1976) Vernon King |
| Parent(s) |
Martin Luther King, Sr. (1899–1984) Alberta Williams King (1904–1974) |
| Relatives |
Christine King Farris (sister) Martin Luther King Jr. (brother) |
Alfred Daniel Williams King (July 30, 1930 – July 21, 1969), known as A. D. King, was the younger brother of Martin Luther King, Jr., a famed leader of the Civil Rights Movement. A. D. King was a Baptist minister and a civil rights activist.
Alfred King was born July 30, 1930, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a son of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., and Alberta Williams King, the youngest of their three children (the other two being Willie Christine, born September 11, 1927, and Martin Luther King, Jr., born January 15, 1929). In contrast to his peacemaking brother, Martin, A. D.—according to his father—was "a little rough at times" and "let his toughness build a reputation throughout our neighborhood".p. 126 Less interested in academics than his siblings, A. D. started a family of his own while still a teenager and attended college later in his life. He was married on June 17, 1950, to Naomi Ruth Barber (born 1932), with whom he had five children: Alveda, Alfred II, Derek, Darlene, and Vernon.
Although as a youth A. D. had strongly resisted his father’s ministerial urgings, he eventually began assisting his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church. In 1959, A. D. King graduated from Morehouse College. The same year, he left Ebenezer Baptist to become pastor of Mount Vernon First Baptist Church in Newnan, Georgia.
Alfred King was arrested along with King, Jr., and 70 others while participating in an October 1960 lunch-counter sit-in in Atlanta. In 1963, A. D. King became a leader of the Birmingham campaign, while pastoring at First Baptist Church of Ensley in Birmingham, Alabama. On May 11, 1963, King’s house was bombed. In August, after a bomb exploded at the home of a prominent black lawyer in downtown Birmingham, outraged citizens, intent on revenge, poured into the city streets. While rocks were being thrown at gathering policemen and the situation escalated, A. D. King climbed on top of a parked car and shouted to the rioters in an attempt to quell their fury: "My friends, we have had enough problems tonight. If you're going to kill someone, then kill me; ... Stand up for your rights, but with nonviolence." Like his brother, A. D. was a staunch believer in the importance of maintaining nonviolence in direct action campaigns. However, unlike his brother, A. D. remained mostly outside the media’s spotlight. As one of his associates said, "Not being in the limelight never seemed to affect him, but because he stayed in the background, many people never knew that he was deeply involved, too." A.D. tended to stay in his brother's shadow and many people never even knew that Martin Luther King Jr. had a brother. He supported his brother throughout the movement but never took the limelight away from him.
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Wikipedia