Bernice King: Black pastor at Trump inauguration ‘misused’ father's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Jan 23, 2025
Bernice King, daughter of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., accused the Black pastor at President Trump’s inauguration of misusing the slain civil rights leader's "I Have a Dream" speech.
Bernice King, the youngest child of the civil rights legend and a staunch critic of Trump, argued Rev. Lorenzo Sewell "distorted" her father’s speech.
“I don’t deny the power of my father’s most well-known speech, ‘I Have a Dream,’” King posted on social media.
“However, its power and popularity (with focus on its conclusion) have been misused to weaken its clear messaging about ending racism, stopping police brutality, ensuring voting rights, and eradicating economic injustice.”
Sewell on Monday prayed “that America would begin to dream again" before launching into an echo of the conclusion of Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 speech. Trump’s inauguration was just the third time in history that the event coincided with Martin Luther King Day.
Bernice King added that it is no surprise to her that her father’s "I Have a Dream" speech is quoted more often than some of his other most famous works, including “The Other America,” “The Three Evils of Society,” “Beyond Vietnam” and “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
While her father’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a “call to conscience” for Christians, it also speaks of “integrating prayers about civil disobedience and freedom being demanded by the oppressed," she wrote. That writing is much harder to distort, she added.
“It’s simpler to distort the rousing conclusion of #IHaveADream and twist it to push a narrative that authentic, compassionate work to prevent and stop discrimination is actually discriminatory,” King said.
King added that her father’s speeches, sermons and writings provided a strategy and path toward realizing his dream, but said that path has not been collectively embraced.
Instead, she said, several of Trump’s executive orders this week “blatantly disregard both the strategy and the path.” She did not identify which executive orders to which she was referring.
However, she urged Americans to “keep praying…but don’t pray the Dream in pursuit of false peace, which cries for unity while decrying inclusive and equitable policies and practices.”
“Pray the Dream in tandem with work for true peace, which, as my father said, is the presence of justice,” King concluded.
In an interview with The Hill, Sewell said he was unaware King had an issue with his sermon and said he is doing his best to realize her father’s dream.
“She needs to understand that I'm working my butt off,” Sewell said. “She has no idea what we're doing to actually make his dream come to fruition … I work in nothing but poor Black communities, the same communities that her dad fought for.”
Sewell, born and raised in Detroit and now a pastor at 180 Church, added that many of those who came up to him following the ceremony praised his sermon – and had no idea he was quoting the civil rights leader.
Sewell added that he thinks Bernice King is mad about him praying at Trump’s inauguration because she and her brother, Martin Luther King III, have been outspoken critics of the president and his policies.
“She needs to understand that her dad's legacy is more than just a birthday,” Sewell said. “Before she criticizes me, and before she thinks I'm doing something bad, she must understand that I'm busting my butt for her and her family, because I really believe that I'm the next Dr. King.”
Sewell said he is particularly dedicated to ensuring Black Americans have access to fair housing, something Martin Luther King Jr. emphasized often.
“Just because your last name is King, that does not mean you know how to fulfill the dream,” Sewell added.