Open My Eyes, Open My Soul Celebrating Our Common Humanity

Yolanda King is an internationally recognized motivational speaker and actor. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, she is the first child of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King. Yolanda has been in the midst of the quest for human rights and peace all of her life. She has performed or lectured in forty-nine of the fifty American states as well as in Europe, Africa, and Asia for educational, business, religious, and civic organizations. Sharing her message of the importance of embracing our common humanity, Yolanda has sounded the call from the halls of the United Nations to venues in Moscow and Munich. Yolanda King has been acclaimed for her ability to inspire people to reach higher ground, to motivate people to move forward, and to empower people to make a difference. As a seasoned and respected actor, many of Ms. King's stage, television, and film credits reflect her commitment to personal and social change and include portrayals of Rosa Parks in the NBC-TV movie King, Dr. Betty Shabazz in the film Death of a Prophet with Morgan Freeman, and Medgar Evers' daughter, Reena, in Ghosts of Mississippi. Focusing on the highlights of the Civil Rights Movement, Yolanda King's most recent theatrical production, Achieving the Dream, in which she portrays several characters, is a product of her unique relationship with her father and her deep insight into this pivotal time in our history. Ms. King has been honored with numerous presentations, awards, and citations by organizations around the country, and she has been named one of the Outstanding Young Women of America. Elodia Tate grew up in a culturally diverse neighborhood in San Jose, California. Although Elodia's father is Caucasian and Native American, her mother is a blend of Spanish, Native American, and Mexican descent. Elodia has worked in the mortgage industry and has written for newsletters specializing in the mortgage arena for home-owners and contributed to local newspapers. In the early 1990s, Elodia discovered that she had lupus. In 1995 she was able put the illness in remission by taking a natural approach to managing her health. That event sparked an eagerness to learn and share all she could in the natural health industry. After studying, she spent time speaking to small groups and large audiences about her experience with taking a natural approach to health. She has written articles for several online magazines and continues to speak about her experiences. Elodia's four children have an ethnicity that is a blend of African American and her own Hispanic, Caucasian, and Native American descent. Living with them as a multicultural family and seeing firsthand the issues of diversity are what brought about her urge to bring awareness and enlightenment so that we may walk a more peaceful path on this planet.King, Yolanda is the author of 'Open My Eyes, Open My Soul Celebrating Our Common Humanity' with ISBN 9780071438865 and ISBN 0071438866.