In the spirit of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his niece, Dr. Alveda King, said she has a dream of her own.
St. Paul of the Cross invited Alveda King to speak at the parish to help kickoff its commemoration of Respect Life Month in October. The program was held Sept. 29, featuring a presentation, “Civil Rights for the Unborn.”
“When people hear me say, ‘I have a dream, also,’ I’m saying that because my granddaddy had a dream,” she said.
Alveda King said she is an advocate for the unborn. She’s also a former college professor, best-selling author and a former Georgia statehouse representative. She lives in Atlanta.
In her talk, she drew parallels between the civil rights that her uncle advocated for and her efforts. She said she knows that “Dr. King totally respected the principles of mind-body that he studied.”
She referenced scripture that addresses common life questions people may have for abortion and said that while God does give people a choice between the life and death of you or your child, it does not say it’s yours to choose.
“You’ll see that life is a civil right,” she said. “Therefore, abortion would have to be a civil wrong.”
She said that her message tends to be received well among those of the Catholic faith, and added that “I’m actually a nondenominational Christian evangelist. We work so well together.”
Lake Zurich resident Pietrina Probst said the presentation was worth sitting in on.
“She enlightened me on how the eugenics movement affected the black community,” she said.
Probst sat watching the presentation with her mother, and said that she’s previously seen Alveda talk on news programs.
“I was in awe with her message,” Probst said. “I think she did a good job speaking to truths about how abortion affects women and children in our society.”
During the question-and-answer session after her presentation, one member of the audience asked whether Alveda King had been uninvited to speak at a college graduation ceremony because of her message. She said it does happen and she tries to look past that. She said she doesn’t feel her stance on abortion is a divisive viewpoint that should separate people of different races.
“We have differences, but we are coming back together,” she said.