Gwen Middlebrooks, former Spelman professor and babysitter for King family, dies

Funeral services were held on Tuesday for Gwendolyn Middlebrooks, a civil rights activist and the former babysitter for Martin Luther King Jr. and his family.

She came to Atlanta as a young child and became deeply involved in the civil rights movement, fighting for equality.

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Middlebrooks was a longtime member of Ebenezer Baptist Church, which is how she met and was later hired by Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

At her service on Tuesday, Ebenezer Senior Pastor and U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock delivered her eulogy. .

“Gwen Middlebrooks was in a word, fierce. I got to know that personally,” Warnock said.

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People remembered her fight for equality and her service to Atlanta as an educator.

Middlebrooks was a Spelman College alumnae and returned there to teach for more than 40 years.

She died last week at the age of 84. She is survived by her husband of 63 years James Middlebrooks and their three children and grandchildren, including CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez.

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