Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s family uses Bucs game to share platform on eradicating 'triple evils'
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was honored at Monday's nights Bucs game.
TAMPA, Fla. - Monday night's NFL Wildcard game between the Bucs and Eagles featured decorated special guests - the family of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
For the first time, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the NFL brought his family onto the field as honorary Bucs team captains. MLK Jr.'s son, Martin Luther King III, his daughter-in-law Arndrea Waters King, and 15-year-old granddaughter Yolanda Renee King participated in the game's coin toss.
"I know that he and my mother are looking down on us today, especially as we are attending this so, so important, game," said Martin Luther King III. "Unfortunately, our nation is at a divided point. That's sort of why football games and championships are so important, because they bring people together from every walk of life."
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The trio announced a new five-year partnership between the NFL and the family's platform ‘Realizing The Dream’.
The family explained that the platform's mission is to eradicate what MLK Jr. coined the triple evils; poverty, racism, and violence.
MLK Jr.'s son, Martin Luther King III, his daughter-in-law Arndrea Waters King, and 15-year-old granddaughter Yolanda Renee King at Monday night's Bucs game.
Martin Luther King III said, "I believe we will be a much better nation after that. It will help us get closer to realizing the dream."
Yolanda Renee King also spoke about the book she wrote as a 15-year-old, We Dream a World.
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"It's a children's book. But I'd like to say it's a big kid's book too, meaning adults. It's a book about the type of world we could have and sharing the dream that was shared to us 60 years ago," she said. "With this service initiative and with this book, we hope to inspire people, to show people what a world without racism looks like, what a world without poverty looks like."
For more information about ‘Realizing The Dream’, click here.