Don't look to Martin and Coretta's children for revolution humble reader, cast your lots with the Cosby kids instead. The late Martin Luther King Jr. once said that one of his dreams was that his four little children would be judged by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin. Fast forward to 2009 and the three remaining siblings have yet to show any significant character. Currently there is something akin to a rap-feud going on between them; two of them, Martin III and the Rev. Bernice (Albertine) King are suing their brother Dexter.
Named after a church (Dexter Ave., Baptist Church) and Chair of the King Center for Family Fue... errr the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, being on the outs with family is reportedly nothing new with Dexter. Back in '89 he was said to have had a falling out with his mother over the center and was ousted as head until he resumed this position in '94. On 7/11/08 Bernice and Martin III filed suit against Dex for improperly taking funds from both his late parents' estate. Hey, Martin and Coretta can't spend it right? Oh never mind. At any rate Dexter filed a counter suit against Matin and Bernice on 8/18 claiming they misused assets and refused to channel money back into the center or estate. He justified this with a statement that 'my father also used the court system.' All-in-all a terrible way to spend a legacy. What kind of speech would their father give them right now? Or would he briefly suspend nonviolence and take all three to the woodshed?
You see, I personally could care less about the money or the family squabbles, when it comes to the King siblings it's about what have they done? And the answers my friend is blowin' in the wind. We in the Black community like to split children of our freedom fighters in half; one side of us expects them to continue their parents fight for us and the other half wants them to remain just as they were at birth, babies. And in their defense, it's not as if they don't do anything. Martin III may be the hardest working activist among them, what specifically that work is appears to be in question. Is he a voice against police brutality? Martin was. Is he a voice against voter disenfrancisement? Martin was. Martin III was a head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) but his relationship with them has been rocky and the basis for that has been his apprehension towards fighting their hardest hitting issues like AIDS (reportedly he is uncomfortable talking about condemns). As of this writing I don't know if Martin is still suspended from the SCLC or back with them.
Their late sister Yolanda may have been the most visible, but Dexter is best known for his own personal investigation and suspicion of his father's real killer because he publicly joined the growing legion of people who doubt that it was James Earl Ray back in '97. Personally I wondered about Dex back then, I figured even if Ray was a pasty, he seemed willing enough so why bother actually visiting and shaking his hand. Ray never seemed eager to deny he shot King until he was caught after another escape attempt back in '77. Where was Dexter's handshake for Izola Ware Curry? The Black woman who stabbed King ten years before his murder? Curry was mentally disturbed but she still lived up until 5/16/94. That gave Dex and CNN plenty of time to visit with Izola – oh that's right, she's Black, not interesting enough.
Regardless of what books or conspiracy theories came out later on, you'd never catch a Kennedy shaking hands with Lee Harvey Oswald, or Sirhan Sirhan were they still alive. Do Black people love the white man so much they'll arrange to shake hands with their parents killer and then do it? Plain and simple mental retardation.
Another issue with Dexter may be a lack of steady income. He never seemed to embrace the family's first business; church (remember he's named after a church). Martin and Bernice (thought to be the fundamental conservative of the family) both head their own churches following in the footsteps of their father and grandfather.
It's not as if Atlanta has become such a post-civil rights paradise (as some may believe) that there's no more battles for the King offspring to fight; where was any of them on the matter of Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (formerly MLK contemporary H. Rap Brown) who owned a grocery store in Atlanta and on 3/16/00 was arrested for shooting two police officers in a highly disputed but underpublicized incident. al-Amin was convicted of 13 charges (including the murder of officer Ricky Kinchen) but there is suspicion of a cover-up and dispute over who really shot the officers since the police initially believed the shooter was wounded. Still no news of Dexter or Martin offering aid and counsel to or speaking out in favor of al-Amin.Given his SNCC and Black Panther ties you'd think they'd be all over it.
When it comes to the public the surviving Kings will come out during historic events such as white liberal campaign support or the Obama Presidential Inauguration (even though Martin III supported Hillary during the Primary) or when a major network needs a comment from one of them, but don't anticipate any King involvement in hardcore black issues. In all other respects they've made themselves somewhat media darlings. The problem is they are not making themselves as easily accessible to each other and that itself is a great tragedy. It's believed Martin and Dexter haven't spoken in a couple years. These are guys who could be a great force for blacks nationally if only they could know their own strength and put their heads together. But don't expect it to happen soon. Albertine, Martin and Dex seem content to be their own Three Stooges.
