Martin Luther King Jr.'s actress daughter Yolanda has died in Santa Monica, California. The eldest of the late civil rights leader's four children passed away yesterday, although the cause of death is still unknown. Yolanda King, 51, was a prominent activist in her own right, and starred in films such as 2000's "Odessa" and 1996's Ghosts of Mississippi.

Paying tribute to the late actress, fellow activist Reverend Al Sharpton says, "Yolanda was the torch bearer for her parents and a committed activist in her own right.

"Yolanda never wavered from a commitment to non-violent social change and justice for all. She was the first daughter of the civil rights movement and never shamed her parents or her co-activists.

"As an artist and activist she refused roles that would belittle her family name and tradition."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)