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MLK’s Youngest Son Calls His Siblings’ Lawsuit Ludicrous
July 14th, 2008He said he was stunned that his sister and brother were taking him to court
(L-to-R: Dexter, Bernice, Martin Luther King III)
The youngest son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said Saturday that he was “blindsided” by the lawsuit filed by his brother and sister, accusing him of pocketing money from his parents’ estate. “It totally blindsided me,” Dexter Scott King told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of the suit filed against him by Martin Luther King III and Bernice King. “I think maybe it was a reckless attempt to express their grievances. They are false claims, and I will be addressing that accordingly.” Specifically, the lawsuit, filed in Atlanta on Thursday, accuses Dexter of mishandling funds from King Inc., hiding documents from his siblings and taking money out of the Coretta Scott King estate. At the center of the controversy are millions in King family assets, including some $32 million in contributions from the city of Atlanta to acquire 10,000 pages of Martin Luther King’s writings and other documents. It’s not the first time that the children of the slain civil rights leader and the late Coretta Scott King have been at odds regarding the King Center in Atlanta and the handling of their parents’ estate and legacies. Dexter and Bernice, who sit on the board of the King Center, say they want Dexter, who is President of King Inc., to convene the board. “He owes Martin and Bernice an accounting of what has happened with all of the money,” said Jock Smith, the attorney representing Martin III and Bernice. “We’re trying to get an accounting as to the financing and well-being of the estate. The way to do that is to get records, books and accounting.” Said Dexter, speaking to the Journal-Constitution from his home in the Los Angeles community of Malibu, “We are private family. It is a private business matter, you know, a family dispute, if you will. It’s probably blown out of proportion, but until I’ve had a chance to thoroughly review the complaint, it’s just kind of difficult for me to address it.”
I really hope they get this together. They are what is left of the legacy to Dr. and Mrs. King. It is ashame that they fighting as they are. Their parents have got to be very unhappy with them right now.
“Money is the root of all evil!” This old saying never seems to loose its validity. Money should not be the wedge that separates family members. The Black race as a whole is separate and divided; it will be a terrible shame if the family unit also becomes a divided unit throughout our race. If you can’t get along with anyone else, the family should at least be close and connected. There should be trust, integrity, honesty, and love among family members. These characteristics must be solidly in place in order to deal with inheritances. You can’t keep tabs on internal greed if these characteristics don’t exist throughout the family unit. God bless the MLK family siblings. I hope they work this monetary problem out because I am sure their parents would not be pleased about this matter.
This is wrong and shameful on sooooooooooooo many levels !!
Did you kids learn ANYTHING from your father legacy ! ANYTHING !!
My GOD !! Even if you was ”low” enough to steal the money … they should have just let you have it and put you out of the family business … see that LUTHER !!
But to go to court to fight over the money …well that SHAMEFUL !!
YOU ALL SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELFS …CAUSE I’M ASHAMED OF YOU ALL !
Acting like white people fighting and stealing money !
May your parents rest not only in peace but mostly with respect.
well this just goes to show you (once again) how greed and money is the root of evil…. even the children of people as great as Mr. & Mrs. MLK….. They should be ashamed to be airing this dirty laundry for the world to see. However, if money is being misappropriated……. it must be dealt with!
Actually it is “the love of money that is the root of all evil”. We have to have funds to live and pay our bills. But it’s truly sad that Dexter didn’t communicate with his family as all parties are grieving. Maybe this is the lesson he needed tl learn to talk more with all parties so there is no schism because they are still a model of what can happen when a ideal is pursued called freedom.
EVERYTHiNG iS ALWAYS OVER MONEY THEY FATHER LEFT MONEY && THEY GOiNG CRAZY OVER iT BUT YEA ii HOPE THEY GET ALONG BECAUSE ii KNO THERE FATHER iS UPSET OVER THE FACT THAT THEY ARGUING OVER MONeY CRAZY WHAT PEOPLE DO FOR MONeY iS A Bi….