| Dexter Scott King | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 30, 1961 (age 50) Atlanta, Georgia |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actor Documentary film maker |
| Known for | Son of Martin Luther King, Jr. Chairman, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change |
Dexter Scott King (born January 30, 1961) is the second son of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. His siblings are Martin Luther King III, the Reverend Bernice Albertine King, and the late Yolanda Denise King.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia and named after the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father was pastor before moving to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Dexter was seven years old when his father was killed. Twenty-nine years later, Dexter met with James Earl Ray, imprisoned for his father's 1968 murder. He believes that Ray was not involved with his father's assassination.
At a 1999 press conference, Coretta Scott King stated that "there is abundant evidence of a major high level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr...the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband. The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame." Following statements by Dexter King and other family members, Dexter was subsequently asked by a reporter, "there are many people out there who feel that as long as these conspirators remain nameless and faceless there is no true closure, and no justice." He replied:
"No, he [Mr. Lloyd Jowers] named the shooter. The shooter was the Memphis Police Department Officer, Lt. Earl Clark who he named as the killer. Once again, beyond that you had credible witnesses that named members of a Special Forces team who didn't have to act because the contract killer succeeded, with plausible denial, a Mafia contracted killer".[1]
King attended Morehouse College, the alma mater of his late father. He did not graduate, but studied Business Administration while there. He later became an actor and documentary film maker. King splits his time between Atlanta, Georgia, where he serves as chairman of the King Center, and Malibu, California.
Dexter Scott King served as president of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, but resigned in 1989 only months after taking the office after a dispute with his mother, Coretta Scott King. He resumed the position in 1994, but the King Center's influence was sharply reduced by then.[2]
Dexter has been a dedicated vegan and animal rights activist since the late 1980s.[3]
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King's mother, Coretta Scott King, died on January 30, 2006, at the age of 78. Dexter's elder sister, Yolanda, collapsed at the home of his best friend, Philip Madison Jones, on May 15, 2007. She could not be revived and died at the age of 51. Her family believes she had a heart condition.
On July 11, 2008, Dexter King was sued by his sister Bernice Albertine King and brother Martin Luther King III; in addition, he was sued by Bernice King on behalf of the estate of Coretta King. The lawsuit alleged that Dexter King improperly took funds from the estate of Coretta King and his father Martin Luther King, Jr.. On August 18, 2008, Dexter King filed a counter suit stating his siblings had "breached their fiduciary and personal duties to the King Center in Atlanta and their father’s estate, misused assets belonging to the center, and kept money that should have been channeled back into the center and the estate."[4]
These lawsuits were filed in Fulton County, GA Superior Court.[5] The lawsuits were settled out of court in October 2009.
King (1978)
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