News regarding Greensboro’s controversial International Civil Rights Center and Museum has been on the back burner for a few days now, but stay tuned.
Much has been made —-with good reason —about how the museum’s financial and organizational structure tarnishes the legacy of the Greensboro Four’s crucial role in the civil rights movement.
With Gboro’s issues in mind, NYT reports on the seemingly endless litigation among the children of Dr. Martin Luther King “over the ownership of their father’s personal effects and the stewardship of his legacy.”
“It is hard to fathom how the important legacy that the competing parties claim to be seeking to protect will be well served by yet another very public airing of the disputes and squabbles that have sadly divided the King family in recent years,” Judge Robert McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court wrote in an order attached to one of the recent suits.
In a hearing Tuesday morning, Judge McBurney could rule on whether the annotated Bible and Nobel medal belong to the Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Inc. In January, two of the three directors — the brothers Dexter King and Martin Luther King III — voted to sell the items. Their sister, Bernice King, the third director, opposed.
Judge McBurney could also delay a ruling or send the case to trial. A tentative trial date is Feb. 16.
Another lawsuit involves the estate vs. the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. In that lawsuit, “lawyers for the estate claim that it had been the single largest financial contributor to the King Center over the past decade, but that the two entities had recently suffered “a total breakdown in communication and transparency.”
