TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

King's Children Take Rift To Court

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: July 20, 2008

ATLANTA - For years, they were the picture of solidarity: the four children of Martin Luther King Jr. carrying on the legacy of the civil rights icon.

But a lawsuit over how their father's estate is being run has left a rift in one of the world's most famous families. And it may now be up to a judge to get the King children in the same room.

"Strong parents have strong children, and strong children have strong opinions, and that usually leads to conflicts that they have difficulty reconciling," said Andrew Young, the former congressman and Atlanta mayor who worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement and remains close to the family.

The lawsuit filed July 10 claims that Dexter King, administrator of his father's estate, has failed to provide his surviving siblings with essential documents, including financial records and contracts.

It claims that he and the estate "converted substantial funds from the estate's financial account ... for their own use" on June 20 without notifying his sister and brother. It is not about money, but instead is a last-resort effort to talk to Dexter King about the family's affairs, even if it's through a judge, Young said.

"It's simply a matter of asking for help," he said. "That's consistent with the civil rights movement. Everything we did, we went to judges to reconcile the differences. I don't think there's any animosity or hostility involved in it."

Bernice and Martin Luther King III both declined to be interviewed for this story, but issued a statement Saturday through attorney Jock Smith.

"Our right to obtain corporate documents that we have personally requested in the past few years, and more recently in the lawsuit that we have filed, have been continuously ignored," the statement said. "Duty obligates us to preserve and protect the corporation and the legacy from arbitrary, singular, and seemingly self-serving decision-making."
Dexter King did not respond to an interview request placed through The King Center.

A dispute involving that center in 2005 showed some chinks in the King children's armor. Bernice and Martin Luther King III took sides against the others when they opposed the center's sale.

They argued the deal would compromise the center's independent voice. Their mother, Coretta Scott King, founded the center shortly after her husband's death in 1968, and it needed more than $11 million in repairs.

Before the issue could be resolved, Coretta Scott King died in January 2006.

In the year after their mother's death, the eldest, Yolanda, held the family together. Then she died in May 2007 from a heart attack at age 52 in Malibu, Calif., where she and Dexter lived and were pursuing entertainment careers.

Dexter has since drifted further from his older siblings. He was conspicuously absent from the King holiday celebration in January and the 40th anniversary of his father's assassination in April.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT