Christine King Farris

Christine King Farris (born Willie Christine King on September 11 1927 in Atlanta, Georgia) is the eldest and only living sibling of the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. She teaches at Spelman College and is the author of several books and a public speaker on various topics, including the King family, multicultural education, and teaching. Professor Farris was, for many years, Vice Chair and Treasurer of the King Center and has been active for several years in the International Reading Association, and various church and civic organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Family

She is the first child of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Christine Williams King, and is the elder sister of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Albert Daniel Williams King. The three siblings spent their early years in the home of their grandparents, Adam Daniel Williams, who died in 1931, and Jennie Celeste Parks Williams, who died a decade later. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Christine Farris married Isaac Newton Farris on August 19, 1960. They had two children: Angela Christine Farris and Isaac Newton Farris, Jr., who currently serves as CEO of the King Center.

Education and professional life

Mrs. Farris earned her B.A. degree in Economics with a minor in English from Spelman College in 1948, on the same day her brother Martin Jr. received his B.A. in Sociology from Morehouse College. She earned an M.A. in Social Foundations of Education in 1950, and an M.A. in Special Education/Reading from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1958.

According to Stanford University's King Encyclopedia: "Farris planned to teach, but her initial applications with the Atlanta Board of Education were repeatedly denied. Her father recalled that she was qualified, but the board was angry because he had for 11 years struggled to equalize teacher salaries, ‘forcing white teachers to live on the same rates of pay blacks worked for’ (King, Sr., 135). After King, Sr., called the mayor to intervene, Christine was welcomed to her first teaching position at W. H. Crogman Elementary School. "

She is an Associate Professor of Education at Spelman College where she teaches on the topics of multicultural education and teaching reading to pre-school and elementary school children. She also serves as Director of the Learning Resources Center and is responsible for administration of the center.

She has also held appointments as an adjunct professor at Morehouse College and Atlanta University.

On growing up with Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a 1986 article in Ebony magazine:

• Christine King Farris described her brother Martin Luther King as ‘‘no saint, ordained as such at birth. Instead, he was an average and ordinary man, called by a God, in whom he had deep and abiding faith, to perform extraordinary deeds.’’

• Christine recounted that Martin ‘‘got into his share of boyhood trouble’’ and found any excuse imaginable to get out of completing household chores.

• Christine’s decision to step forward during a church revival meeting became the stimulus for a decisive moment in her younger brother’s religious life. ‘‘My sister was the first one to join the church that morning,’’ Martin King would later write, ‘‘and after seeing her join I decided that I would not let her get ahead of me, so I was the next’’ (Papers 1:361).

• Farris later traced her love of reading to the hours her aunt, Ida Worthem, spent reading to her and her brothers. This ‘‘laid the foundation’’ for her future as a reading professor (Farris, ‘‘Young Martin’’).

• Farris added that ‘‘the best way each of us can celebrate Martin’s life’’ is to ‘‘join in the struggle for freedom, peace and justice’’ (Farris, ‘‘Young Martin’’).

Family tragedies

Farris has endured the murder of one brother in 1968, the drowning of another brother in 1969, and the murder of her mother in 1974. Farris has not returned to Memphis, Tennessee since she traveled there after the assassination of her brother to retrieve his body. In recent years, she has attended the funerals of her niece, Yolanda King, and sister in law, Coretta Scott King. In a recent interview with CNN, she said she would not attend an April 2008 event marking the 40th anniversary of her brother's assassination, because of the painful memories of her last visit to Memphis.

References

• Christine Farris Bio at Spelman College
• King Encyclopedia Stanford University
• Young MLK The Tavis Smiley Show, January 15, 2003
• Education Update Interview with Christine King Farris
• Honoring Willie Christine King Farris’ 80th Birthday
• Washington Informer
• Interview with Tavis Smiley Discussing Assassination Of MLK Jr
• Christine Farris visits The Latin School
• TIME for Kids Interview
• CNN: Sister remembers 'horrible moment' King was killed
• Farris, Willie Christine King, ‘‘The Young Martin: From Childhood Through College,’’ Ebony, January 1986.

Books by Christine King Farris

My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin ... by Christine King Farris

Martin Luther King, Jr.: His Life and Dream by Christine King Farris

Martin Luther King, Jr.: His Life and Dreams/Grades 3-5 by Christine King Farris - 1986

Martin Luther King, Jr., His Life and Dream: Elementary Level by Christine King Farris

Teaching Children about Martin Luther King: Lessons for Life by Jr III Martin Luther King, Christine King Farris - 2003

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