ABC News spoke with organizers of the 60th Anniverasy of the March on Washington event,Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. They both state that much work still needs to be done to achieve King's dream.
African American news blog that features news that may get little or no coverage in the mainstream media
Saturday, August 26, 2023
Saturday, January 15, 2022
SPEAKER PELOSI TO JOIN MARTIN LUTHER KING III & FAMILY FOR MLK DAY PRESS CONFERENCE ON VOTING RIGHTS
On Monday, the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will join Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King and Yolanda Renee King, as well as other elected officials and civil rights leaders at a press conference to discuss the critical need for action on voting rights legislation. The press conference comes as the Senate heads for a vote on the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act on Tuesday. Mr. King and others will call on the Senate to do away with the filibuster in order to pass this bill.
The list of speakers includes:
- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
- Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus
- Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL), United States Congress
- Martin Luther King III, Chairman of the Drum Major Institute
- Arndrea Waters King, President of the Drum Major Institute
- Yolanda Renee King, Director of Youth Programming for the Drum Major Institute and Granddaughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King
- Rev. Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network
- DaMareo Cooper Co-Chair of the Center for Popular Democracy
- Kelly Robinson, Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Vice President of Advocacy and Organizing at Planned Parenthood Federation of America
- Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino
- Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers
- Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association
- Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
- LaTosha Brown, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter
- Rahna Epting, Executive Director of MoveOn
- Donald Cravins, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Urban League
- Rev. Lis Theoharis, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign
- Ramón Cruz, President of Sierra Club
- Stephanie Young, Executive Director of When We All Vote
- Taifa Smith Butler, President of Demos
- Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of League of Women Voters
In the morning before the press conference, Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, Yolanda Renee King and representatives from partner organizations will join the D.C. MLK Holiday Committee for their D.C. Peace Walk: Change Happens with Good Hope and a Dream. The King family will not be formally speaking at the Peace Walk; however, media is invited to capture footage and photos of the family crossing the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, and Rev. Al Sharpton will visit Capitol Hill and Meet With Lawmakers
On Monday, September 13th, 2021 Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, and Rev. Al Sharpton will visit Capitol Hill to urge congressional leaders to pass federal voting rights legislation and deliver an open letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell requesting a meeting to discuss the necessity of passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Restoration Act, the For The People Act, and the Washington, D.C. Admission Act.
During the visit, the Kings and Rev. Sharpton will meet with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. This visit comes as a follow-up to the August 28th March on For Voting Rights, which brought together 250 partners to hold 101 marches and activations nationwide, uniting tens of thousands of people in the fight against voter suppression. #VotingRightsMarch reached over 100 million people online.
At 2:45p.m., following the meeting with Sen. Schumer, the Kings and Rev. Sharpton will hand-deliver a letter to Senate Minority Leader McConnell before holding a press conference outside of the U.S. Capitol.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Martin Luther King III slams Mike Pence's Trump-MLK Comparison
Sunday, March 25, 2018
On April 4th Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s entire family to honor 50th anniversary of his death
Monday, January 16, 2017
Martin Luther King III meets with Donald Trump to discuss voting rights.
A son of Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther King III had a meeting and representatives of his policy making body The Drum major Institute with Donald Trump to discuss voting rights on MLK Day. I actually don't have a problem with King meeting with Trump but I do have a problem with doing it on the King Holiday. This makes it look as if King is being used as prop in Trump's dog and pony show. Listen to Martin Luther King III discuss the meeting below.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Martin Luther King Jr.'s children end Nobel medal dispute
Martin Luther King Jr.'s heirs have agreed to end their legal fight over who owns the slain civil rights leader's 1964 Nobel Peace Prize medal, according to a court document filed on Monday, but did not disclose if the item will be sold.
A trial to settle the years-long dispute over the medal had been set to start in Atlanta on Monday. It would have pitted King's two sons against his surviving daughter, who were at odds over whether to sell the medal.
The three siblings serve as directors of a corporation formed to manage the estate of King, who had no will when he was assassinated in 1968 by a white supremacist in Memphis, Tennessee.
Martin Luther King III and Dexter King voted in January 2014 to sell the medal and a Bible their father carried during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Bernice King objected to a sale, calling the heirlooms "sacred" to the family.
Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had ordered the items to be kept in a court-controlled safe deposit box pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
The judge on Monday signed an order in which the parties asked for the suit to be dismissed and agreed the keys to the box should be given to Martin Luther King III, who serves as chairman of the estate board.
Read more: Martin Luther King Jr.'s heirs end Nobel medal dispute
Sunday, February 09, 2014
For sale: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Here's an article that I read in my local Sunday paper ( The Star Ledger ) from a great columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. The article takes a hard unflinching look at the embarrassing situations Martin Luther Kings' children regularly find themselves in when it comes to dealing with their father's estate. I wanted to share it with others who may not get the article in their local papers. George Cook AAreports.com.
For sale: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. By Leonard Pitts Jr.
Maybe we should take up an offering.
Obviously, the heirs of Martin Luther King Jr. are hard up for money. That must be why they keep selling off pieces of his legacy.
Have you heard the latest? King's youngest child, Bernice, issued a statement last week after her brothers, Dexter and Martin III, filed suit to force her to turn over their father's Nobel Peace Prize and his traveling Bible. She says they want to sell them to a private owner.
According to the suit, King's heirs agreed in 1995 to turn their inheritance over to a corporate entity, The Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Inc., where Martin is chairman of the board. The complaint says Bernice has "repeatedly acknowledged and conceded the validity" of the agreement, but still refuses to surrender the items. The suit makes no mention of a sale. I called the King brothers' lawyer for comment. He didn't return the call.
In her statement, Bernice writes, "While I love my brothers dearly, this latest decision by them is extremely troubling." She says she is "appalled," "ashamed" and "disappointed" by their behavior. "It reveals a desperation beyond comprehension." Their father, she adds, "MUST be turning in his grave."
Turning? Martin Luther King must be spinning like a record album.
Read more here: For sale: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.