Shortly after the death of Coretta Scott King, I had the nerve to say out loud that Mrs. King’s life was one big lost opportunity. After all the horrified gasps, I asked my friends to name one thing that Mrs. King ever did for anyone for which she didn’t also benefit. I’m still waiting on an answer. In fact, I even consulted Wikipedia and couldn’t find anything worth mentioning.
I reached my conclusion about Mrs. King because I have watched as she presided over the Atlanta bougiouse year after year, yet contributed nothing to the world at large. To make matters worse, she sold Dr. King’s work to Time Warner for $5 million and aggressively sued anyone who tried to share in what has become a national treasure—the words of Dr. King.
The New York Times reported on it more than 10 years ago.
Until now, the King family has carefully guarded the release of these primary sources and recently sued CBS for selling a videotape of King's ''I Have a Dream'' speech. Last year, Intellectual Properties Management succeeded in stopping a California Republican political advertisement that featured portions of the speech. And in 1993, the estate filed suit against USA Today, which is owned by Gannett, after the newspaper published the text of the speech on its front page. The newspaper settled the lawsuit by paying the estate a $1,700 licensing fee and legal costs.
Just protecting her investment, I guess.
Now with mom dearly departed, the children are taking up the embarrassingly selfish behavior. It’s reported this week that the children are in court bickering over who owns the rights to their mother’s papers. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III are actually suing Dexter King for control of her posessions.
The three surviving King children have looked more like adversaries than siblings in recent months as they struggle to settle three lawsuits. On Tuesday, lawyers for Dexter King asked a judge to demand that Bernice King -- as administrator of her mother's estate -- turn over personal papers, including love letters between the civil rights icons.
The case is ongoing in Atlanta civil court, and the judge has appointed a special master to catalogue dozens of boxes belonging to Coretta Scott King.
Control of the documents is threatening to derail a $1.4 million book deal with New York publisher Penguin Group for a memoir about the civil rights matriarch.
It’s beyond sad to see what this family has become. They inherited an American legacy that could have afforded them the opportunity to lead any cause they chose. A spouse or child of Dr. King could have easily garnered support for any of array of issues. Yet, 40 years after his death, they are fighting in court to get their hands on their mother's $1.4 million. You could do a lot of good with that kind of money, but they won’t.
By the time Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in his 30s, he had led a 385-day boycott to give Montgomery Blacks the dignity of sitting wherever they chose on city buses. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was one of the trailblazing organizations in the civil rights movement. He led a march on Washington, D.C., where he delivered an address that occupies an unrivaled place in American history. He even earned the Nobel Peace for his work to end racial segregation and discrimination through nonviolent means.
What have any of the other King's accomplished?
Eventually, one of them will win the suit, but they will all lose. A birthright squandered. An opportunity wasted. And a pathetic display that would make their father cringe. If only they had inherited some of his dignity.
