MLK Remembered In Spite of Lawsuits
Today is the 47th observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday; however, decades after King’s assassination, the heirs of the Georgia pastor who preached justice and peace are fighting over whether to sell his traveling Bible and Nobel medal to a private buyer.
The family’s bickering was on public display last week when members appeared in court for the ongoing battle to force one of King’s daughters to relinquish control of the Bible and the medal. The daughter has accused her brothers of trying to sell the bible and medal to a private buyer to raise money for the King estate, which supposedly suffers without a reliable revenue stream. A judge in Fulton County Superior Court heard the case Tuesday, but did not rule and said the matter could go to trial next month.
Although the legal battles between King’s heirs have no impact on their father’s legacy, their well-publicized disputes have been a turnoff for donors looking to support their work and the work of others who are associated with the Kings. As far as the King legacy’s accessibility, historians say it has never been a better time to study the icon. “King’s ideas are more freely available today than they’ve ever been—certainly more than there ever was during his lifetime. None of that would have been possible without the estate.”
See Aaron Morrison, MLK Day 2015: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Message Thrives In Spite Of Legacy-Carrying Heirs’ Legal Battles, International Business Times, Jan. 18, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.