“You will encounter misguided people from time to time. That’s part of life. The challenge is to educate them when you can, but always to keep your dignity and self-respect and persevere in your personal growth and development.”
― Bernice King
“In addition to needed gun control reforms, America urgently needs a stronger protest movement dedicated to reducing the glorification of violence in our culture – in music, film, television, video games, and even the Internet.”
― Bernice King
“I wouldn’t say I’m against same-sex marriage. I believe in freedom and equality for all people. I believe that when it comes to gay marriage, that’s a political and legal issue that has to be dealt with in that arena. I have privately held beliefs, but when it comes to that, it’s properly placed in the political and legal arena.”
― Bernice King
“Seek out your brothers and sisters of other cultures and join together in building alliances to put an end to all forms of racial discrimination, bigotry, and prejudice. There are people of good will of all races, religions, and nations who will join you in common quest for the betterment of society.”
― Bernice King
“Consider all of the possibilities for positive global progress if we utilized nonviolence as the central value of our culture, encompassing our law enforcement and labor practices, which currently include people in numerous nations working for inhumane wages in unhealthy conditions.”
― Bernice King
“Nelson Mandela, a better man, not a bitter man, made our world a better place in which to live. His life and leadership exemplify the highest courage, dignity, and dedication to human liberation.”
― Bernice King
“Nonviolence as a lifestyle and perpetual strategy will allow us to be on the offense instead of continually on the defense. We will be able to move the ball down the field with team decisions and playmaking versus constantly thinking about how the opposing forces are moving the ball.”
― Bernice King
“Choosing nonviolence does not mean that one will never get angry or become upset with others, including the ones we love.”
― Bernice King
“In my view, it was no accident that Nelson Mandela was chosen by God to lead the people of South Africa. There are very few people who could be imprisoned, kept away from their family and loved ones, and exit that same prison with such a powerful spirit of love and a desire for reconciliation.”
― Bernice King
“With continued prayer and an equally-determined commitment to action for needed anti-violence reforms, let us resolve to work toward a new era in which every American child and every adult are protected from the ravages of brutality, safe and secure in our homes and schools and communities.”
― Bernice King
“In the end, I still have the same hope as my father – that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the last word.”
― Bernice King
“All of us have to be committed to a life beyond our own aspirations.”
― Bernice King
“We must rediscover our faith in the future and join with one another to ensure that nonviolence is the prevalent choice for government, law enforcement, the non-profit sector, business, education, media, entertainment, arts, and for the global citizenry.”
― Bernice King
“My father literally fought his entire life to ensure the inclusion of all people because he understood that we were intertwined and connected together in humanity.”
― Bernice King
“Like my father, I believe that nonviolence is the antidote to what he called ‘the triple evils of racism, poverty and militarism.’ These three evils were consuming our hopes for community in 1964, and, fifty years later, we remain divided because of their festering effects.”
― Bernice King
“The time has long since come for truth, transparency, and talks in every sector of society, including media, advertisement and entertainment. We can challenge each other, gain understanding, and create a more just, humane, and peaceful world.”
― Bernice King
“With The King Center as her base, my mother pressed on to fulfill a role that changed lives and legislation. She was a woman who refused to surrender the reigns of what she knew to be her assignment, even when male civil rights and business leaders tried to convince her that she should leave the work of building her husband’s legacy to them.”
― Bernice King
“If people want to criticize me, that’s their issue.”
― Bernice King
“We cannot afford to regard as normal the presence of injustice, inhumanity, and violence, including their verbal and cyber manifestations.”
― Bernice King
“Each of us must decide whether it is more important to be proved right or to provoke righteousness.”
― Bernice King
“Nonviolence will empower and equip us to bring generations to the table and fuse our knowledge, gifts, and zeal together.”
― Bernice King
“It is time for humanity to reset our spiritual compass from self-centeredness to other-centeredness.”
― Bernice King
“King-ian nonviolence is a way of thinking and living and is not confined to the work of social and systemic change.”
― Bernice King
“Every time I go to these racial forums, it is people who are alike, or it is progressives and liberals. So I said, ‘At some point, we’ve got to bring the progressives and the liberals and the conservatives together.’”
― Bernice King
“My mother and Ethel Kennedy became good friends and worked together on a number of causes they had shared with their husbands. They together co-chaired ‘A Time to Remember’ to mobilize a movement for gun control.”
― Bernice King
“Some people feel like I’m arrogant. It’s unfortunate, because people don’t know my heart.”
― Bernice King
“Love is not a weak, spineless emotion; it is a powerful moral force on the side of justice.”
― Bernice King
“My father provided some very important guidance in how we deal with conflict and polarization.”
― Bernice King
“Always realize that even your strongest advocate and opponent is a part of the human family; albeit they may have small shortcomings and even strength in them, they are part of that human family.”
― Bernice King
“We are carrying collectively a lot of trauma, especially those of us in the African-American community. And if we’re not careful, it’ll overtake us, and we’ll self-destruct.”
― Bernice King
“Daddy taught us through his philosophy of nonviolence, which placed love at the centerpiece, that through that love we can turn enemies into friends. Through that love, we can create more dignified atmospheres.”
― Bernice King
“Thank God for the efforts of Black Lives Matter – we’ve seen an awakening in this era in a way we didn’t see in Daddy’s era in terms of people coming to grips with white privilege.”
― Bernice King
“Do we want to be successful, or do we just want to make noise just to make it? Or just to put something on the record? I’ll be honest with you, I’m tired of putting stuff on the record. I’m ready to see some real transformation and change.”
― Bernice King
“My favorite preacher is not with me anymore, and that’s my father.”
― Bernice King
“At Grinnell College, for the first time in my life, I was in an all-white setting. It was a shocking experience.”
― Bernice King
“When my father died, the money he left us would have dried up within a year were it not for my mother… We might very well have ended up on welfare.”
― Bernice King
“I didn’t have a father to deal with about boyfriends. I didn’t have a father to show me how a man and woman relate in a family setting. Therefore, I have given over my life to mentoring young people. I’m adamant about young people who have been denied a father/daughter relationship.”
― Bernice King
“How do we expect change to occur if we are not willing to put on the whole armor of God and fight injustice wherever it raises its ugly head?”
― Bernice King
“Something big is going on. I’m talking about a society that refuses to allow injustice just to persist without making our voices heard and without organizing to bring about effective change through our voting system.”
― Bernice King
“My dad was one who – he was nonpartisan, first of all. He learned to work with whatever administration was in office.”
― Bernice King
“Unlike some people, my father would try to meet with President-elect Trump because he recognizes that in order to move the agenda of justice, freedom, and equality forward, you can’t just protest and resist. You also have to negotiate as well.”
― Bernice King
“What I’m trying to do is fulfill what my father said, which is, ‘We have to find a way to live together as brothers and sisters, or together we’re going to perish as fools.’”
― Bernice King
“My father really set the tone for us to be a more moral nation, to take a moral high ground in everything that we do.”
― Bernice King
“How do we navigate and process painful biases and conflicting emotions and press on to be sacrificial and suffer in the struggle? And what do we do with images and depictions that, known or unknown to those perpetuating them, may contribute to the impediment of human progress?”
― Bernice King
“We are faced with the dilemma of how or if we demonstrate where we stand on critical issues and corresponding social ills. We are also bombarded with so many instances of inhumanity that it can be difficult to determine what part we play in human progress.”
― Bernice King
“Before my mother was a King, she climbed trees and wrestled with boys. And won. Even as a child, Coretta Scott demonstrated that her gender would not deter her success, nor did it detract from her strength.”
― Bernice King
“Before my mother was a King, she was a gifted vocalist and musician, whose skill and academia garnered her a scholarship to the prestigious New England Conservatory for Music in Boston.”
― Bernice King
“Before she was a King, my mother was a peace advocate, a courageous leader, and an accomplished artist.”
― Bernice King
“My mother made countless sacrifices so that her children – and all children – could grow up in a better nation and world.”
― Bernice King
“My mother was the strong wife, partner, and co-worker Martin Luther King, Jr. needed to be an effective leader, and he said so on many occasions.”
― Bernice King
“In 1985, I joined my mother in a protest against apartheid in which we were arrested at the South African embassy in Washington, D.C. And she was at President-elect Mandela’s side in Johannesburg when he claimed victory in South Africa’s first free elections.”
― Bernice King
“Among her many accomplishments, my mother is often identified as the leader of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday movement.”
― Bernice King
“Environmental injustice is a tangible, intolerable example of an exhibited moral laxity and minimal concern for healthy standards by corporations and political structures based on the race, ethnicity, and class of those being impacted.”
― Bernice King
“Somehow, we have to realize that what we watch and what we listen to not only often reflects our most violent tendencies but cultivates more violence.”
― Bernice King
“Refuse to be disheartened, discouraged, distracted from your goals in life.”
― Bernice King
“Continue to speak out against all forms of injustice to yourselves and others, and you will set a mighty example for your children and for future generations.”
― Bernice King
“Police departments across the nation must develop nonviolent ‘rules of engagement,’ so that they don’t reflexively respond to suspected crimes with violence. This will require more in-depth training in the behavioral psychology of conflict resolution so police have tried-and-true techniques of preventing and de-escalating violence.”
― Bernice King
“In addition to a stronger focus on better training for law enforcement, America urgently needs programs to provide jobs and educational opportunities in economically depressed communities.”
― Bernice King
“We can put millions of America’s idle young people to work helping to repair and restore America’s deteriorating infrastructure, public utilities, and transportation systems. Nothing would revitalize the nation’s sagging economy more than such a commitment.”
― Bernice King
“After acknowledging that most law enforcement personnel are fair-minded and do a difficult job, it only takes one exception to create a terrible tragedy.”
― Bernice King
“If I had to do it all over again, would I want my dad here? I would say no. Our world is in a better place because our father gave his life.”
― Bernice King
“When I think about some of the policies that we make in this country, the policies are so self-driven.”
― Bernice King
“I believe that everyone, regardless of their beliefs, deserves the dignity of being called by their name.”
― Bernice King
“As you know, my father was for the inclusiveness and the betterment of society and the world. Certainly we recognize that there are diverse voices in our country, and people have the right of free speech. They have the right of choice, but again, it is our hope that when they choose, they choose to reflect those ideals that he taught us.”
― Bernice King
“I think the most pressing issue in our community is probably a generational divide.”
― Bernice King
“Institutionalized racism has been with us pre-Obama, and it obviously will be with us post-Obama.”
― Bernice King
“One person cannot be blamed for years of problems as it relates to race in America. This is something that has been with us since the founding of this nation. I mean, we were founded with slaves.”
― Bernice King
“I wrestled with anger from the age of sixteen. It’s still one of my nemeses. I have to remember that the word of God says, ‘Be slow to anger.’”
― Bernice King
“The more you resist something, the more aggressive it becomes.”
― Bernice King
“Without my ministry, I would just be Martin Luther King’s daughter. You know, when people call me that, it doesn’t bother me anymore. I know I am not my father. I know I am me.”
― Bernice King
“Occasionally, in the afternoons, I catch a movie, watch football, go to Sunday brunch, or visit with family and friends.”
― Bernice King
“When I speak, I want to ensure that there is at least one person in the audience who leaves the room transformed.”
― Bernice King
“Some of the aspects of my speaking style are inherited and come naturally to me. I didn’t take classes, and I didn’t do anything to hone my skills.”
― Bernice King
“I spend a lot of time meditating, which is something that I don’t think most people know about me.”
― Bernice King
“People have labeled me homophobic. If I was homophobic, I wouldn’t have friends who are gay and lesbian, so that can’t be true.”
― Bernice King
“I know that the absence of my father in my life had its cost.”
― Bernice King
“Trump’s election could be a blessing in disguise. This is the opportunity for America to correct itself.”
― Bernice King
“Don’t be afraid of who sits in the White House. God can triumph over Trump.”
― Bernice King
“I don’t know if you realize this, but anger is anger. It has no mind. It has no rationality. It’s mad, and it just wants to destroy.”
― Bernice King
“My first introduction to South Africa’s struggle for freedom came when I was just 17. I had volunteered to speak in my mother’s stead at a United Nations forum on South Africa because she was unable to attend on that occasion.”
― Bernice King
“In 1985, I was arrested, along with my mother and brother, Martin III, in a protest against apartheid at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C.”
― Bernice King
“As I reflect on the legacy of my father, the greatest aspect is his legacy of peace.”
― Bernice King
“Often, I am asked, ‘What was your father like?’ or, ‘What would he think?’ These are very difficult questions to answer, as I was so very young when I lost my father.”
― Bernice King
“If each of us works toward making a sincere effort when we wake up each morning with a renewed commitment and dedication to embracing nonviolence as a lifestyle, this world will become a better place, bringing us ever closer to the Beloved Community of which my father so often spoke.”
― Bernice King
“It is painful beyond measure to lose a loving father and grandmother to violence.”
― Bernice King
“I am urging Americans to be more careful about the kinds of media we support with our consumer spending. We’ve got to invest less in the media that glorifies violence and more in entertainment that lifts up the values of love, compassion, and the best in human nature.”
― Bernice King
“Something is very wrong when our federal and state governments have a high tolerance for the unrestricted distribution of weapons of mass destruction, and it would be wrong to let this deadly form of neglect continue to facilitate bloodshed across America.”
― Bernice King
“It is incumbent on the media industry to discourage the glorification of media violence. It is also incumbent on consumers who love America to support this effort with selective patronage campaigns to encourage media that provides uplifting content and to boycott the worst offenders, if necessary.”
― Bernice King
“The private sector enjoys tremendous freedom in the U.S, as it should. With freedom, however, comes responsibilities.”
― Bernice King
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