The Rev. Bernice King will be the keynote speaker at Troy University’s Leadership Conference Celebrating African-American History Month on Feb. 7 and 8.

King is the daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King,

She will speak at the Conference’s opening session at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7.

King is nationally and internationally known as one of the most powerful, motivating and life-changing orators and speakers on the circuit today, said Shelia Jackson, public relations and tourism director for the City of Troy.

“We are extremely pleased to have Rev. King as the keynote speaker for the 2014 African-American Leadership Conference,” Jackson said. “Rev. King leaves her audiences speechless and challenges people to raise the standard.

“ She was called to the ministry when she was 17 years old. She has been quoted as saying that, in a sense, her calling to the ministry will be the perpetuation of the flame, the spirit of her father living on.”

King graduated from Spelman College with a B.A. in psychology and went on to earn a J.D. and Master of Divinity from Emory University. She delivered her first sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church of her father and grandfather, on March 27, 1988. She was ordained as a minister in 1990.

The African-American Leadership Conference will begin with check-in at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7 at the Trojan Center on the campus of Troy University. The opening session will begin at 6:30 p.m.

On Saturday, Feb. 8, the plenary sessions will be from 8:15 until 11:30 a.m. The luncheon and closing speaker will be from noon until 1:30 p.m. Tentative speakers for the plenary sessions are Judge Steven L. Reed and Marquita Davis. The Rev. John Ed Mathison has been invited to be the closing speaker.

For ticket information, contact Barbara Patterson at 334-670-3204 or Jackson at 670-2283.

The African-American Leadership Conference is presented by Troy University and the City of Troy. Primary sponsors of the conference are Walmart, SD James Evangelistic Association and Troy Bank and Trust.