The 2026 midterm elections held special significance for Yolanda Renee King, the only grandchild of Martin Luther King Jr.
On Nov. 3, the 18-year-old exercised her right to vote for the first time.
“It was so special for me to be able to go to the ballot box myself. I’ve just always been interested in these types of issues. And one of the ways that one can contribute to society and humanity the most is through the vote,” she told Her Campus in an interview.
Political activism certainly runs in the teen’s family. After all, she’s the daughter of Martin Luther King III, the son of the late Martin Luther King Jr. Growing up, Yolanda Renee King said her parents would take her with them while they voted, and she was always eager to cast her own.
“I didn’t understand the first few times that you have to be 18. So I was like ‘OK, when am I gonna go? When’s my turn?’ They’d always give me the voting stickers to try to make me feel better,” she said.
She went to the polls with her mother on Election Day.
“Of course my mom was telling everyone, ‘It’s her first time voting,’” she said.
King, a freshman at Columbia University, also spoke with Essence about the importance of midterm elections as she prepared to cast her vote, saying they “act as a reflection point for where we are as a country.”
“A lot of us in university just finished our midterm exams. In school, you wouldn’t just disregard your midterm exams and only try on the final, because your performance on the midterms impacts your overall grade. The same principle applies here: We need to take midterm elections just as seriously,” she said.
King also reflected on how Gen Z is carrying the legacy of her late grandfather forward.
“Honestly, he would probably be disappointed in the world my generation has inherited, but he would also be so proud to see how vocal our youth are. All over the world, you see student-led movements proving that Gen Z is a force to be reckoned with,” she said.
King said Gen Z is “outspoken” because social media gives them “instant access to information.”
“It’s similar to the Civil Rights Movement when televisions first entered people’s homes, seeing the horrors of segregation on screen caused a major awakening,” she said. “Today, access to information through our phones is causing that same kind of awakening and driving real change.”
