Judge to Decide Fate of MLK’s Estate

With the success of the film, “Selma,” the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. seems to be omnipresent.  The film took on renewed importance in Atlanta on Monday when Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia, in his Inaugural Address, reminded residents that a statue of Dr. King would soon be erected on the State Capitol grounds. 

At the same time, a different aspect of Dr. King’s legacy has been playing out in court filings and hearings as his three surviving children dispute the ownership of their father’s Bible and Nobel Prize medal.  In a hearing today, Judge Robert McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court could rule on whether the Bible and medal belongs to the Estate of Dr. King. 

Another lawsuit was filed by the Dr. King estate against the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.  The King Center, a nonprofit organization, is a historical and commemorative building dedicated to Dr. King.  Lawyers for the estate claim it had been the single largest financial contributor to the King Center, but the entities had suffered, “a total breakdown in communication and transparency.”  Moreover, lawyers allege some of Dr. King’s personal effects were being stored in an “unacceptable” manner.

See Richard Fausset, Fate of Martin Luther King’s Bible May Be Clearer After Ruling, The New York Times, Jan. 12, 2015.