MLK Daughter Makes Public Appeal to Prevent Sale of Father’s Nobel Prize Medal and Bible
Bernice King speaking Thursday at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Lisa George / WABE
Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.’s daughter, Bernice, spoke out today against her brothers’ plans to sell their father’s Nobel Peace Prize medal and personal Bible.
Some 50 family members and supporters flanked Bernice King as she spoke from the pulpit of historic Ebenezer Baptist, the church her father once led.
King said this disagreement goes beyond a family squabble, but she also indicated this is a breaking point in her relationship with her brothers, Dexter King and Martin Luther King, III, making a specific request of the media and general public: “Respectfully from this point on, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from grouping me with my brothers.”
King made an emotional appeal to the public to support her efforts not to selling the items and invoked the memory of her parents, saying, “I have to believe that my parents know and understand what has happened. To them I say, Mother and Daddy, I am so sorry it came to this.”
WABE legal analyst Page Pate says Bernice King may not have a strong legal argument against the lawsuit which seeks to compel her to turn over the items (PDF).
The suit claims that all heirs, including Bernice, assigned their interests in Dr. King’s property to his estate in 1995. That makes a decision on what to do with the property subject to a vote among the heirs. The heirs are the three siblings.
“If she truly gave up her interest in the property to the estate, then it’s up to the estate to determine what to do with it whether she agrees with that decision or not,” said Pate. “She can have a vote on it as a member of the board, but she can no longer control that property even if she was given an undivided interest in it way back when.”
No word on who the potential buyer is or whether that buyer will be dissuaded by the public attention to the siblings’ disagreement over Dr. King’s possessions.
Neither of the King brothers nor their attorneys have responded to requests for comment.
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