The youngest son of African-American civil rights activist Martin Luther King (1929-1968), Dexter Scott King, has died of prostate cancer at the age of 62. He died Monday in his sleep at his home in Malibu, California, the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, said on its website, citing his wife Leah Weber King.
Dexter King was born in Atlanta in 1961. His parents named him after Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father first emerged as a leader of the civil rights movement. Dexter was seven years old when his father was shot by racist James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968.
Very similar to his father
The New York Times wrote that he was watching TV at home when news of the attack suddenly interrupted his broadcast. As an adult, Dexter King looked a lot like his father.
During the March on Washington in 1963, Martin Luther King demanded equal rights for blacks and whites in the US with the legendary words ‘I have a dream’ before approximately 250,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial. He had four children. Daughter Yolanda died in 2007.
Disputes between siblings
According to the New York Times, there have been repeated disputes between the siblings over their father’s inheritance. Dexter King had for years headed the King Center, which manages his father’s estate.
One of the first to express condolences was former US President Barack Obama. “Michelle and I were deeply saddened to hear of Dexter King’s passing,” he wrote on Twitter (X).
Dexter King dedicated his life to preserving his father’s memory: “He inspired an entire generation to stand up for justice and equality,” Obama said.
Source: Krone
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