Christine Farris, sister of Martin Luther King Jr., dies at 95

Christine King Farris, the sister of Martin Luther King Jr., the assassinated United States civil rights leader, has died at the age of 95.

The King centre announced her demise in a statement on Thursday.

According to the statement, the civil rights activist died peacefully surrounded by family.

“The King center joins the King and Farris families, civil rights activists, the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church family, academic family, and people of goodwill worldwide in celebrating the life of our servant leader, founding board member, former vice-chair & treasurer, activist educator, and family matriarch, the beloved Dr Christine King Farris,” the statement reads.

Farris, who leaves behind, a legacy of education and civil rights activism, supported Coretta Scott, King Jr.’s widow, in establishing the King center following his assassination.

Part of the historic events Farris participated in included the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and the “March against fear” in Mississippi in 1966.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Spelman College in 1948 and later attended New York’s Columbia University, where she earned two master’s degrees in education.

Farris later became a Spelman educator, and director of the Learning Resources Centre until she retired in 2014.

She was married to Isaac Newton Farris Sr for 57 years until his death in 2017 and they have two children – Isaac Farris Jr. and Angela Farris-Watkins.

In 2003, she published a memoir on her childhood and upbringing with her brother titled “My brother Martin: A sister remembers growing up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr”.