The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, commonly known as The King Center, is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established in 1968, based in Atlanta, Georgia.
History The King Center is a 501(c) (3) organization which was founded in 1968 by Coretta Scott King,Gary L. Anderson, Kathryn G. Herr, Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice, SAGE Publications, USA, 2007, p. 804. who started the organization in the basement of the couple's home in the year following the assassination of her husband in 1968.
In 1981, the organization's headquarters were moved into the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park facility on Auburn Avenue which includes King's birth home and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he preached from 1960 until his death.Finkelman, Paul, Encyclopedia of African American History: 5-Volume Set, Oxford University Press USA, USA, 2009, p. 97.
In 1994, Dexter King succeeded his mother as director of the organization. In 2010, Martin Luther King III became president. In 2012, King's youngest child, Bernice King, became the organization's CEO.BJ, Bernice King named King Center CEO, bizjournals.com, USA, January 9, 2012
Programs The King Center provides research, education and training programs on the principles, philosophy and methods of nonviolence.
Awards The Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize is awarded by The King Center. A non-exhaustive list of recipients includes: Cesar Chavez (1973); Stanley Levison and Kenneth Kaunda (1978); Rosa Parks (1980); Martin Luther King Sr. and Richard Attenborough (1983); Corazon Aquino (1987); Mikhail Gorbachev (1991); and, on April 4, 2018the 50th anniversary of King's assassinationBen Ferencz and Bryan Stevenson.
The organization also awards the Martin Luther King, Jr. Social Justice Award.
References
External links Official website