The son of American civil rights hero Martin Luther King has urged people to vote ahead of tomorrow’s elections during his only speaking engaging in Neasden today.
Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of Dr King Snr and Coretta Scott King, entertained a receptive crowd at the Grange, in Neasden Lane, with anecdotes and deeper insight into his personal life, as well as encouraging residents to have their say in the hotly contested local election.
Speaking at the special event organised by CVS Brent and ABi Associates, he said: “It is important to vote because elected official really do determine how our resources are spent.”
“If you do not participate in the process then you really don’t have a right to criticise, but the process allows us participate by voting and electing those who legally represent us,”
The 56-year-old, who has followed in his parent’s footsteps through his work as a civil rights activist and a global humanitarian, spoke of the need for individuals to give back to the communities they have lived in.
He said: “We can win victories in our neighbourhood; we can win victories in our school, in our places of worship. Some of will win victory in our cities, some of us would have victories within our nation, and some will have victories in our world.
“Yet be ashamed to die until you have done a little something to make a world in which we all must live in a little better than it was when you arrived.”
Mr King also explored the role of youth participation in communities, claiming they are filled with fresh and new ideas that needs to be nurtured.
He continued: “But people say to these kids you will never be anything, till eventually that is what they become, nothing -not because want to but because that is how they were programmed.
“We’ve got to change in this diet –in other word what it is we consume has to change and become uplifting. It’s just like if you nurture a flower, it becomes a beautiful thing, especially if it is fertilised, watered and cared for. We’ve got to do the same thing with our children.”
Dr Yvonne Thompson CBE, one of the founding director of Choice FM, who enlisted the help of Mr King to launch her women’s business network 18 years ago has paid homage to the “inspirational figure.”
She said: “I am going to ask him if he can come back.
“Everything he said was completely inspiration.
“Just him being here is inspirational, just his presence is inspirational. The fact that he managed to do others within the community is really good.”
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