In 2022, Martin Luther King III, the son of the legendary slain civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., talked to PEOPLE about what it was like spending the primary 10 years of his life residing in the identical home as the person who impressed so many individuals of all races around the globe.

“He was like our little buddy, like our playmate,” recalled Martin III, who was the second of Martin Jr. and his spouse Coretta Scott King‘s 4 youngsters. “I keep in mind one time, him arising the steps as we regarded out of the window to see him. It was wonderful to see the transformation. As he was arising the steps, he appeared to be pulling 100-lb. iron weights on his legs.”

“He was exhausted,” King III continued. “However as quickly as he noticed us, an exhilaration came visiting him, as a result of we had been so excited to see him: ‘Daddy’s house! Daddy’s house!’ When he acquired to the highest of the steps and the door was open, a renewed power got here throughout him.”

King III explores his father’s legacy and his personal (which is a piece in progress) within the new e-book What Is My Legacy?: Realizing a New Dream of Connection, Love and Success (Flashpoint). It is a collaboration together with his spouse, Arndrea Waters King, and their fellow human-rights activists Mark and Craig Kielburger.

Within the excerpt under, King III, 67, discusses residing underneath the shadow of his father’s monumental legend, and the way he is managed to push himself out from underneath the load of it, honoring the trail of his father whereas forging certainly one of his personal.

On August 28, 1963, in entrance of a crowd of almost 250,000 individuals unfold throughout the Nationwide Mall in Washington, DC, my father, the Baptist preacher and civil rights chief Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his well-known “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. That speech now stands out as one of many twentieth century’s most unforgettable moments and celebrated speeches.

After laying naked the brutal details of racism in America, my father provided up a dream of an America by which individuals of all races and faiths dwell collectively in concord and mutual respect, freed from financial and employment inequalities. Among the many most quoted traces of the speech are “I’ve a dream that my 4 little youngsters will at some point dwell in a nation the place they won’t be judged by the colour of their pores and skin however by the content material of their character.”

I used to be 5 on the time, too younger to attend. As an alternative, I stayed at house in Atlanta. However I’ve since listened to his dream many occasions over time. Each time, it brings tears to my eyes. His message of hope is one thing that I’ve continued to share all through my life. My father’s dream isn’t just a speech he gave or an idyllic view of what may very well be. His dream is one thing we should all select every day to work towards. What my father was asking for all these years in the past was to create a world the place each individual can understand their desires. That’s one thing I additionally need for every of us. My father’s dream stays unfulfilled, however it’s nonetheless very a lot alive.

After main the March on Washington, he went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest individual awarded the glory at the moment. Then after I was ten years outdated, in 1968, my father was assassinated. He was frozen in time on the top of his affect as an important, passionate civil rights chief who has impressed thousands and thousands of individuals to take nonviolent motion for peace and social justice.

My dad will at all times be bigger than life. And for me, the battle of my life has been, initially, rising up with out him. As a boy, I longed to shoot hoops, wrestle, and experience bikes with my dad, as we used to do earlier than he was killed. As a person, I want he’d seen me graduate from faculty, marry the love of my life, the unimaginable Arndrea Waters King, and lift a fierce daughter—his solely grandchild—Yolanda Renee King, together with his oratory presents operating by way of her veins.

My mother, the incomparable Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006, would typically inform me, “Your father could be so happy with you.” This may convey tears to my eyes. I’d virtually soften into the second, wanting so badly to listen to these very phrases from his mouth and really feel the heat of his approval. 

As you may think about, I’ve thought extra about legacy than most individuals. My father handed an enormous legacy to me, and so did my mom — combating hate, racism, violence and poverty whereas attempting to construct the Beloved Group with room for us all. An necessary a part of my life has been furthering their work. What a terrific honor it’s to pursue this mission, within the hopes that my efforts — on the wings of their legacy — will assist create a greater world. 

Even so, I’ve grappled with my mother and father’ legacies and my position in them. I’ve spent my life within the shadow of my dad’s accomplishments, and I’ve usually struggled to determine the right way to emerge from my father’s huge shadow to outline my very own legacy. Many occasions, I have requested myself whether or not the aim of my life will likely be outlined by my father or by me. 

Whereas there have been occasions in my life after I lived within the shadow of my father’s legacy, the reality is that inheriting my father’s title and legacy has been a privilege and a deep honor. So, in reply to the query “Have I executed sufficient?” the reply can solely be “There may be a lot extra to be executed.”

My Legacy?: Realizing a New Dream of Connection, Love and Success, revealed by Flashpoint, is accessible wherever books are offered.