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Martin Luther King Jr.'s Family: Everything to know about his wife, children, and siblings
Martin Luther King Jr. married Coretta Scott King in 1953. They had four children: Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice.
United States will honor and celebrate Martin Luther King Jr on Monday, January 19. The inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. Day was observed as a federal holiday in 1986. Congress later designated the third Monday in January as the official holiday, also promoting it as a national day of service.
Here's all about his family, wife, children and siblings in the light of the upcoming MLK Day.
Read more: Is MLK Day a federal holiday this year? What is open and what is closed?
MLK's wife and children
MLK was a Baptist minister and leader of the civil-rights movement. He married Coretta Scott King on June 18, 1953, in a ceremony on her parents' lawn in Alabama.
Coretta was a trained vocalist and musician and studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston. She met MLK while he was completing his doctorate in theology at Boston University.
In 1968, after MLK's assassination, Coretta Scott King formally established the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which she dedicated as a "living memorial" to carry on MLK's work on significant social injustices worldwide.
Coretta died in January 2006 at the age of 78.
MLK and Coretta had four children together.
Yolanda Denise King (1955-2007)
Yolanda was the eldest child of MLK and Coretta. She was 12 when her father was assassinated in April 1968.
As an adult, she became an advocate for racial and social justice. She supported workers’ rights, LGBTQ+ equality and nonviolence until her death at age 51 due to a heart condition.
She passed away in 2007, a year after her mother.
Martin Luther King III (1957)
The eldest son, Martin Luther King III, has been a prominent civil rights activist. He served as President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The organisation was founded by MLK and has worked extensively to promote human rights and justice.
Martin Luther King III and his wife, Andrea Waters King, have a daughter, Yolanda Renee King, named in honour of his late sister.
Dexter Scott King (1961-2024)
Dexter Scott King was the youngest son and studied business at Morehouse College in Atlanta, following in his father's footsteps. He left school in 1983 due to health issues and thereafter pursued a career in music. In 1986, he collaborated with Prince and Whitney Houston to record an album honoring the MLK Day.
Dexter has been married to Leah Weber since 2013. Weber announced on January 22, 2024, that Dexter had passed away from prostate cancer at the age of 62.
Bernice Albertine King (1963)
The youngest child, Bernice, is a minister, lawyer, and CEO of The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolence. She has become one of the most public spokespeople for the King family today, promoting messages of justice, peace and community empowerment.
When the civil rights leader was killed, she was just five years old. Bernice told Today in June 2020 that she related to George Floyd's little daughter, who was six years old at the time of her father's murder.
She said, “I can't stop thinking about what her journey may be like now without her father and having processed through the viciousness of how he was killed and the images.”
Read more: Did Trump cancel MLK Day 2026? Here's what will change this year
MLK's Extended family and siblings
Christine King Farris
MLK's elder sister Christine King Farris was an American teacher and civil rights activist.
Farris served as the King Center's treasurer and vice chair for a long time. For a number of years, Farris has been involved with the International Reading Association as well as a number of religious and civic groups, such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
On August 19, 1960, Farris married Isaac Newton Farris. The couple had two children, Angela Christine Farris and Isaac Newton Farris, Jr.
Christine King Farris passed away in 2023.
Alfred Daniel King
Alfred Daniel King was the youngest of the three siblings and was called A. D. by family and friends.
Alfred was a civil rights activist and American Baptist clergyman. A. D. shared his brother's strong conviction that direct action campaigns must remain nonviolent. But unlike his brother, A. D. managed to stay largely out of the public eye.
There was talk that A. D. may take over as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) following MLK's assassination in April 1968.
Despite continuing to be involved in the Poor People's Campaign and other SCLC-related activities, A. D. did not attempt to take on his brother's responsibilities.
A. D. King returned to Ebenezer Baptist Church after MLK's passing and was appointed co-pastor in September 1968.
