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Via: DefendernNetwork.com

The Rev. Bernice King has been chosen as the first woman to head the civil rights organization co-founded by her father, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference announced her election as its eighth president Friday morning. Interim President Byron Clay called King and said she accepted the position.

“In the spirit of your father, Martin Luther King Jr., we look forward with anticipation to your leadership,” Clay told King, 46, as reporters listened to his end of the conversation.

She could be heard responding, “Thank you very much.”

“SCLC is a great organization with a rich history,” Clay told reporters. “She is excited. I am excited. The nation will be excited.”

The 52-year-old organization met for seven hours behind closed doors at its national headquarters in downtown Atlanta on Thursday. General counsel Dexter Wimbish said ballots were tallied by an independent third party and locked in a bag which was locked in a safe. They were unsealed Friday.

The other candidate was Judge Wendell Griffen of Little Rock, Arksansas. He was the first black attorney to work for a major Arkansas law firm and is an ordained minister and pastor of New Millennium Church.

Martin Luther King Jr. was the SCLC’s first president, serving from 1957 until his death in 1968. His eldest son, Martin Luther King III, was president from 1998 to 2003.

Associated Press