Bernice King Says Family Had To Sue Her Brother
July 22nd, 2008The siblings have been squabbling over their famous parents’ estate

In the latest verbal volley between the children of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Martin III and Bernice King said that they had to sue Dexter King in order to preserve their father’s legacy and the family estate. “We love our brother, yet we cannot ignore our responsibility to ensure that the corporation we are all shareholders and directors of is properly managed,” they told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through a statement from their attorney, Josh 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.” Go to BET.com/News for more on this story. Do you think the Kings will work out their communication problem?
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I believe that this private personal matter is more a matter of (pride) flesh than (love) spirit. These three adults are allowing satan to guide them not GOD. They’ve apparently forgotten all about the dream! What an embarrassment!
Shame, shame, shame!
Yeah I agree I believe their letting greed get the better of them!!! God knows MLK Jr would turn over his grave if he saw all of this ignorance!! I mean seriously now!!
I cry raindrop tears each and every time I read this story. It is so painful to read the about the bickering in the media. Now, I know that the siblings could visit Dexter in Malibu, and discuss these looming issues. I cannot believe that the relatives have not tried to squel things down. I don’t believe that the siblings (Bernice and MLK III) are embarrassed. I have always believed that there was a strained relationship between Bernice and MLK III versus Dexter. It has been reported that Dexter has an alternative life and therefore, one could see how they are so distant. I think Dexter should develop his own business aside of the King’s estate, so he may earn his own money and spend it as he chooses. I will be praying for them!
I do not think this is about greed, nor is it family mess. Let’s not be so judgmental of the King siblings. Until we know all the facts and have walked in their shoes, we should not be so condemning of Bernice and Martin, Jr. I personally had a family situation that involved my family that I love with all of my heart. It involved the use of family propery to get money that would have abused another family member unbeknowing to her. The ones who were the leaders of this plan did not inform the family members as myself who they felt would go against their plans. So, I had to get legal assistance after asking like Minister Bernice and her brother, Martin, Jr. of Dexter, and my asking was on deaf ears. I was shocked when a refutable legal firm advised me of what was about to take place, and one my dearest family members was about to be misled and taken advantage of horribly, had not I and other family members exposed what was really going on. To those, who feel Bernice is not using her faith. She is. But more importantly, she is using wisdom along with faith, both she and her brother to get at the truth. Psalms 3:13 says “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth an understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold”. Bernice and Martin, Jr. are using wisdom by getting legal assistance to get a better understanding of what is really going on. They indicated that have asked several times for an accounting of the financial documents and have not received them. So, they had to take the next step. Just because they are the King’s Kids does not exclude them from having disagreements as any other family.
I think it is sad that the family is fighting like that there parents would not have won’t then to fight but get long
I am sure love and peace will be theirs in the end….We are only human and never once did Martin Luther King nor his beloved wife Coretta Scott-kIng claim to be perfect…Unfortunately parents can do a near perfect job in raising their children but, there will always be that one thing regardless of what it is and that one thing will test their love and peace.I believe however that their love and what their parents stood for and instilled in their children; will prevail.On the other hand it is not always possible to solve all family problems without mediation….It is the media which takes these un-avoidable differences and distort them to bring down people and their families and the Kings are not exempted from the lows of the media nor how the public interpets what the media puts out there. I pray the Kings will once again be a loving and peaceful family and learn from this to solve their families respectfully and speedy before the likes of the media gets in there with their two cents worth.Notice i said two cents because he media will stop at nothing to bring one down albeit the kings or who-ever.
They should all be ashamed of themselves for making family business public, especially being the kids of the late Dr. King. I understand what they have to do, but they don’t have to do it publicly. That’s low, very low.
maybe i misunderstood the reason of the fight, but it doesn’t sound like they are fighting over money, it sounds like it’s more than what meets the eye…. when you are famous….. family business will always be public….
GWEN:
JUST BECAUSE YOU USE SCRIPTURE TO MAKE YOUR “JUDGEMENT” DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOUR JUDGEMENT IS ANY MORE VALID THAN OURS. SOMETIMES THERE IS A FINE LINE BETWEEN OPINION AND JUDGEMNT. THIS BLOG IS FOR THE OPINIONS/JUDGEMENTS OF ALL NOT JUST “GWEN”!!!
HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!!
How in the Hell on God’s green earth, is The great Martin Luther King jr., master of peace, and equal rights, kids fighting after all he’s taught us. What a disgrace to Mr, and Mrs King.
I hope so. I don’t think there father would be proud of them. After all the great things he accomplished in society. What their doing makes him look foolish.
Martin and his wife were both human…and so are their offsprings….It is truly a sad situation…I feel that it should have been handled privately, but one never knows… alot of things done through the media can tend to be displayed ugly…and this situation looks ugly…
To Tracey,
The Word says, “The Love of Money is the Root of all Evil”. Money itself is not evil, it is used in many ways to uplift the Kingdom. When you place things, i.e., money, homes, people, above God evil gains a foothold for corruption. We will probably never know the “behind the scenes” reasons for this family dispute, but it is hard for me to believe it is really just about “money”.
WELL THEY ARE ONLY HUMAN WHEN PEOPLE, PARENTS, OR ANY RELATIVE DIES THE WORSE COMES OUT IN ALL OF US. EXCEPT ME.
wel we are only human.
MLK’S LEGACY HAS GONE TO HELL IN A HAND BASKET. THOSE KIDS HAVE NEVER AND WILL NEVER WALK THE SHOES THAT THEIR FATHER DID. IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO MONEY. IT’S SAD. THEY NEEDTO REMEMBER WHAT THEIR FATHER STOOD FOR. THEY ALSO HAVE A LOT OF SKELETONS IN THEIR CLOSET THAT WILL COME OUT ONE DAY. I KNOW WE ALL HAVE SKELETONS BUT THEIRS RUN DEEP. I DO NOT THINK THEY WILL RESOLVE THIS MATTER.
Dear Tracey: Please turn off the TV and spend more time in Bible Study! The “LOVE” of Moneyis the root of all evil!
Black people always get caught with their hands in the cookie jar. We only have a few heros in our race, Martin Luther King is our hero and his dump children are letting these white people see how greedy and untrustworthy we are as a people. Handle your business in private, this is ashame to all Black People in the country. Why call press conferences to show these white people how we Black people can’t behave. Money and more Money… don’t they have enough for the 3 of them.
They are capalizing on their Father’s name, making money on the pictures, the books, the library the donations. WE the people have given them that money. And now we see what they are doing with it… Greedy Brats !!!!
We all don’t have it like that, making big money on our Father’s name. That is a blessing. Now they have turned it into a circus in front of the White People. Keep your business to yourself, we don’t need to see how stupid and greedy you are.
I will not donate another dollar to the Martin Luther King Library, I see now it is going into the private pockets of his children.
Why are we “OUTRAGED”? We as Americans, should know by now that everything in America is Directly or Indirectly involved or related to “MONEY, SEX, GREED, MURDER, THEFT, and LIES”, in that order. It is indeed a shame what the King siblings are doing….but they are Americans and ithey are part of the American “OBLIVIOUS” culture….whether we (they) like it or not… move on.
Its not all about money. The King Family should discuss whatever issues they are having with their brother privately.