Bernice King

Nationally and internationally known as one of the most powerful, motivating and life changing orators and speakers, Bernice A. King leaves her audiences spell bound and challenged. Born the youngest daughter of Coretta Scott King and the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., King began her oratorical journey when she spoke in her mother’s stead at the United Nations at age 17. Over the years, King has had the occasion to speak in such places as The White House, DuPont Corp., Warner-Lambert Corporation, AT&T, Lockheed/Martin, DIA, University of Toledo, Xavier University, University of North Carolina, Duke University, Pepperdine University, Department of Defense, Salvation Army, and in such places as Sydney, Australia, Lubeck, Germany, Argentina, South America to name a few. In the summer of 2000, King narrated the “Lincoln Portrait” along with a symphony orchestra in Keil, Germany, at the Schleswig-Holsen Musik Festival.

King is a graduate of Spelman College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and a Masters of Divinity and Doctorate of Law degrees from Emory University. She has also received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree from Wesley College. She is currently a member of the State Bar of Georgia and has received training in mediation.

With a strong concern for community and family partnership, King was privileged to serve as a law clerk in the Fulton County Juvenile Court system, under Judge Glenda Hatchett, where she interacted with troubled boys and girls. It was there that she realized that a growing number of teens have been double victims: first of society and second of an ineffective legal system based in retribution instead of rehabilitation. King has also served as a mentor to a group of 5th grade girls at an inner-city Atlanta elementary school, where she spent time molding their character and values, that one day they too would become a force to be reckoned with in the world. Among other community activities and services, she was instrumental in organizing coalitions to close a pornographic shop located within a mile of a local high school. She also assisted The Dow Company in building a Habitat for Humanity home in Georgia.

As an ordained preacher, King is a minister at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia under the dynamic leadership of Bishop Eddie L. Long. In addition to being a speaker/orator/preacher, King has planned and organized numerous conferences, seminars and workshops for all walks of life. She has successfully coordinated non-violent conflict resolution conferences for college and university students and women and family conferences; she has conducted a class on race relations at Mississippi College in Jackson, MS, and taught a year-long leadership development class at her church. Cited in Ebony magazine as one of the “Ten of Tomorrow” in Leadership, she is actually a strong leader of today.

King has been featured on such shows as Oprah, Montel, Rolonda, Late Night with Tom Snyder, Eye-to-Eye with Connie Chung, BET Talk with Tavis Smiley, to name a few and in such magazines as People, Ebony, Essence, Ladies Home Journal and Charisma. She has also guest hosted a live lunchtime television show on CNN. In 2005, the American Legacy Magazine recognized King as a Woman of Strength and Courage.

As an author, King has written first book, Hard Questions, Heart Answers, a compelling and inspiring book selected by USA Today as a “Best Bet”.

Diverse, challenging, captivating, relevant and powerful are a few words that describe Bernice King, a speaker gifted to change the lives of those who come into contact with her.