Tampa civil rights advocate shares memories of meeting Dr. Martin Luther King: 'He was dynamic'

Civil rights leader shares powerful MLK stories

At 98 years old, Queen Miller still remembers when she met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Tampa, sharing his message about civil rights. FOX 13's Briona Arradondo reports.

TAMPA, Fla - Queen Miller, 98, has made her mark on the Hillsborough County community, advocating for social services, healthcare programs and Black civil rights in Tampa.

Big picture view:

Queen Miller, 98, has built a legacy of helping others in need in Hillsborough County.

Born in Quincy, Florida, the former teacher and great-grandmother was instrumental in the construction of the Lee Davis Community Resource Center in East Tampa. A portion of the center is named the Queen Miller Suite, a multipurpose room for citizens.

Queen's daughter, Yolanda Trigg, said her mother has been honored by former Florida Gov. Rick Scott, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and others for her efforts to better the community.

"My mom would get on her little old-fashioned typewriter and write letters to Tallahassee on their behalf of wherever it needed to go," Trigg said. "She would get things done for them, even people that needed housing."

The backstory:

Queen Miller lived in Tampa when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to town in 1961.  

"It was really civil rights. He was trying to get that in the hearts of everyone," Miller said.

Dr. King preached to at least 3,000 people at an NAACP event at the Armory, which is now the Jewish Community Center.

"He was dynamic. I’d never heard anyone preach like that," Miller said.

Queen listened and felt uplifted and inspired by King’s speech about civil rights.

"I was thinking that we’d be able to get some of the others there to do some of the things I’d been doing because I’d been trying to get them to join the NAACP," Miller said.

Dig deeper:

Black Tampa residents were afraid to join the NAACP during the 1960s, a story that Miller shared with current NAACP Hillsborough Chapter President Yvette Lewis.

"She said they would have the police follow behind them in the police cars, and she would tell them, ‘It’s okay, we’re free now. They said you can be members,’" Lewis said.

Miller’s involvement with the NAACP has lasted decades.

"My mom was in the struggle from the beginning, as far as I can remember, and she’s fighting up until this day," Trigg said.

Miller said Black civil rights meant freedom. When King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, the nation changed.

"When Rev. King died, everything just kind of went haywire all over the United States," Miller said. "That was a tremendous loss to us — to the whole United States — to lose him."