As the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III has seized the torch lit by his parents and is continuing their quest for equality and justice for all people.  Mr. King's dedication to creating and implementing strategic nonviolent action to rid the world of social, political, and economic injustice has propelled him to the forefront as one of the nation's most ardent advocates for the poor, the oppressed, and the disillusioned.  A human rights advocate, community activist and a political leader, Mr. King has been actively involved in significant policy initiatives to maintain the fair and equitable treatment of all citizens, at home and abroad.

His commitment to world-wide humanitarian concerns was exemplified in the late 1970’s when he was asked to represent President Jimmy Carter in two official delegations to promote peace in foreign countries. Later, in 1984, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Mr. King ventured to five poverty and drought-stricken African nations on a fact-finding tour. The outcome of the tour was the creation of the Africa Initiative, a program developed to end starvation in Africa. In the 1980’s, he turned his attention and his action to the injustices of South Africa and was arrested at the South African embassy in Washington, D.C. as part of a civil disobedience protest against apartheid, and for the release of freedom fighter Nelson Mandela. In the 1990’s, he addressed the moral and political dilemmas of third-world nations such as Haiti and Nigeria. In 1996, he toured Great Britain, where he celebrated Black History Month and shared his father’s vision of justice and equality for all people. Mr. King has initiated "America United for Affirmative Action," a national coalition of organizations to prevent the dismantling of affirmative action initiatives across the nation. He continues to volunteer for numerous civic organizations, and to devote his time to causes which address the betterment of all humankind. One of Mr. King’s ongoing collaborations is with the annual Kindness and Justice Challenge sponsored by Do Something, Inc.

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Mr. King has devoted much of his adulthood to the continuance of his father's mission of nonviolent conflict resolution. King has shared his father’s message to a receptive global audience, spearheading nonviolence education workshops and programs in Bosnia Herzegovina, India, Israel & Palestine, Kenya, Sri Lanka and the United States. Through a mix of nonviolence conferences and youth development programming, Mr. King, Realizing the Dream, and other members of the GEN II Global Peace Initiative have spread Dr. King’s message to a new generation.

Martin Luther King, III was born in Montgomery, Alabama, the second oldest of the four children of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Martin was nurtured among individuals deeply committed to the struggle for human rights and a nonviolent society. He has assimilated and utilized those values in his personal and public life.