Yolanda King

Yolanda King, an actress, producer and motivational speaker who was the eldest child of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and who turned to the performing arts to carry on her father's civil rights legacy, has died. She was 51. King died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center in Atlanta. According to Klein, family members suspected her death may have been caused by a heart problem, but he provided no additional details.

A memorial service for Yolanda King, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at Faithful Central Bible Church's Tabernacle, 321 N. Eucalyptus Ave., Inglewood. Yolanda King died May 15 in Santa Monica.

Coretta Scott King -- widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. -- managed to say a few words on Friday and "clearly wants to communicate," but her physician said she might not fully recover from a stroke. King, 78, suffered the stroke Tuesday morning when a blood clot became lodged in the part of her brain that controls speech, said Dr. Margaret Mermin. She has not been able to walk or speak since then. "Emotionally, she's doing as well as she can be expected.

In an outpouring that was by turns hostile and heartsick, the community that relies on Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center turned out in force Monday to strenuously oppose plans to close the hospital's prized trauma unit. A public hearing at an auditorium across from the hospital in Willowbrook, south of Watts, prompted a spirited, daylong protest by well over 1,000 people, who gathered to send a powerful message to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.