Sue Lani Madsen: MLK Jr.’s niece bring message of unity, but the media wasn’t there to hear it

Last weekend, a major political party hosted a nationally known civil rights activist. She gave a keynote speech to more than 400 at a formal dinner on Saturday, followed by a free public event in Spokane Valley on Sunday afternoon. And in other news, next weekend a small group of neo-Nazis has organized a small private gathering in the Hayden Lake area. Which do you suppose was reported on the front page of the Northwest section this week?

The fringe outliers in North Idaho, of course. Being ignored was disappointing to Maggie DiMauro, volunteer with the Spokane County Republicans and organizer of Alveda King’s schedule for the weekend. Anyone familiar with the old adage “if it bleeds it leads” will not be surprised at the missing coverage. Normal people gathering to celebrate building unity doesn’t “bleed” enough.

The Spokane area events also included a Sunday morning community roundtable, an opportunity to sit down with King, granddaughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. and his wife, Alberta; daughter of the Rev. A.D. King and his wife, Naomi; and niece of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

A sense of family legacy is important to King. Her mother was the one who taught young Alveda to put “God first, me second because if I don’t take care of me I can’t help anyone else, then family, then church, then community.” She feels a strong connection to her grandfather, who, according to family history, advised her mother not to have an abortion because he had a vision of who Alveda would grow up to be.

“I am a guardian of the King family legacy,” King said Saturday. “I have been charged now as the oldest in my generation to teach people about God, about Jesus Christ, about nonviolence, that we’re all one blood and one race.”

Unity was the emphasis at Saturday’s Lincoln Day dinner, starting with an invocation led by the Rev. Amos Atkinson Jr. of Spokane’s Calvary Baptist Church, the oldest African-American Church in the state of Washington. Masters of ceremonies Kitara Johnson-Jones and Jonathan Bingle repeated the theme as they introduced each speaker. “We have to stop calling America racist, because if she was racist she wouldn’t be worth fighting for,” said Johnson-Jones, a U.S. Army veteran. “The Republican Party has to remember what Lincoln stood for and what he said … this country can stand united.”

Sunday afternoon’s presentation at St. Mary’s Catholic Church attracted at least 500 listeners, DiMauro said. In addition, DiMauro said Sunday morning’s brunch brought together a cross section of about 30 community leaders.

“Spokane is very polarized and we need to start having deep conversations leaving politics out of it and focus on how to help the community,” DiMauro said. “If she was a liberal would she have gotten news coverage? And that’s kind of sad, that’s how polarizing it is. While brunch was sponsored by the GOP, it wasn’t political.”

According to DiMauro, attendees at the community round table included Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward, Spokane’s civil rights coordinator Jerrall Haynes, Luc Jasmin, Phil Altmeier from Union Gospel Mission, attorneys Bevan Maxey and Morgan Maxey, GOP State Committeeman Matt Hawkins, diversity officer/trainer Kitara Johnson-Jones, former city councilman Mike Fagan, Mary and Michael Nguyen, Michael Brown from the Spokane Eastside Reunion Association and Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich.

King usually turns down speaking invitations, but told DiMauro she felt called because of the polarization. “She said she was guided in her heart to come to Spokane,” DiMauro said. “Most speakers want to get paid, but all she asked for was an honorarium to her pro-life ministry.”

King served four years in the Georgia Legislature as a Democrat, has more recently been supporting pro-life Republicans, but rejects political labels. Her focus on the value of life “from womb to tomb” has put her at odds with her old party affiliation. She recently founded a new ministry called Speak for Life. While waiting for the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Mississippi, King’s message is to remember “the baby of course having civil rights should have the right to be treated with human dignity, the mother of course is going to need support, the father needs to come into the picture, and then the family and the community … and I believe we could recognize there are other ways to help a mother, child, father and a community without killing anyone.”

Sitting with her before the dinner on Saturday, she looked at her itinerary for the evening. The GOP equals Growth and Opportunity Party slogan caught her eye. “We have an opportunity to make a difference,” King said. “In this generation and this decade, there’s an opportunity to support life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness together.”

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com.