King Family Should Be Ashamed for Mishandling Legacy of Civil Rights Icon by Charging Memorial Nearly $800K to Use Words & Pictures

Children of late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., mishandling legacy of their father by continuing to "extort" money to use his words and pictures, specifically charging nearly $800K to use his words and pictures on the King Memorial at the National Mall.

Did the family of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. engage in a shakedown over his memorial at the National Mall in Washington D.C., charging the memorial $761,160 for the rights to use the civil rights leader's words and images. The family has mishandled the legacy of their father. Bernice, Dexter and Martin Luther King III have lost my respect, not just recently. I came to this place a long time ago, when the city of Atlanta forced them to make improvements and repairs to the King Center a few years ago. The center had violations upon violations. It was interesting to learn then that Dexter King was in charge of the King Center, and now, he's in charge of Intellectual Properties Management, Inc. It's all about money for this family. I can't recall hearing that the family of John F. Kennedy is charging for the use of his speeches. Tacky.

I can only call the action of Intellectual Properties Management Inc., as nothing more than extortion. They are messing with the legacy and reputation of Dr. King. As historian and King biographer David Garrow told the AP, "I don't think the Jefferson family, the Lincoln family [or] any other group of family ancestors has been paid a licensing fee for a memorial in Washington." Dexter King and his siblings are pimping the legacy of Dr. King. This isn't the dream he spoke about in that historic speech. While I don't think what the King children are doing is necessarily criminal, it amounts to a money grab and could tarnish the good name of their father.

When I first heard that the family had benefited so handsomely from the memorial two years ago, I was appalled then and I am still today. If it weren't for Dr. King and what he stood for, I would encourage people to boycott the monument, but he played far too great a roll in our country's history. Had this been the family of JFK or even  Abraham Lincoln, the criticism would be loud, to the point of deafening. I will concede the point that Abraham Lincoln has been dead for decades and the same line of reasoning may not hold for his relatives, but it's the principle more than anything for me. Boyce Watkins made the argument, of the King children, "that he truth is that if these children were from the Kennedy or Bush families, they would already be wealthy beyond belief. But being the descendants of slaves, where family wealth was stolen from us for over 400 years, you have to make your money wherever you can." We can't keep excusing bad behavior by throwing the whole black experience in the United States up as a smokescreen every time. That's no excuse for tackiness and greediness.

The article that appeared in the Root is worth reading. Read more: http://www.theroot.com/views/shakedown-king-monument?page=0,1&wpisrc=root_lightbox

Sears Tower Renamed Willis Tower, Recalls Ugly Era of Segregation in Chicago Schools at the Hands of Benjamin Coppage Willis, School Superintendent

Chicago's Sears Tower, the tallest building in North America, has been renamed the Willis Tower, the name is a stark reminder of a period of hatred and segregation in the United States. The name reminds many Chicagoans of Benjamin Coppage Willis, Superintendent of Schools in Chicago in the 1960s, who was accused of perpetuating racial segregation by refusing to move black children into white schools. He died on Saturday in his home, ironically in a placed called Plantation, Fla., and was 86 years old. Willis presided over the schools during an ugly time in the city's history and in the era of court-ordered desegregation after the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and the passage of the Civil Rights Act 10 years later. Willis' critics have accused him of deliberately keeping black children at overcrowded schools in the inner city, while there were many available spaces in white neighborhoods, in short, black segregation.

To many civil rights leaders, who led protests against Mr. Willis from 1963 to 1965, his 13-year tenure as superintendent was symbolized by the 625 mobile classrooms he established to alleviate overcrowding at mostly black schools on Chicago's South Side. The critics called the mobile classrooms ''Willis Wagons.''

Benjamin Coppage Willis was born on Dec. 23, 1901, in Baltimore. He received his doctorate from Columbia University and, after starting as principal of a four-room schoolhouse in Henderson, Md., eventually became superintendent of the school systems in Hagerstown, Md., Yonkers and Buffalo. Drew Praise at First

He was appointed to the Chicago post in 1953. Forceful and confident, described in one new account as confronting ''each hour as another landing on Guadalcanal,'' Mr. Willis drew praise in the 1950's for cutting class size, streamlining construction of new school buildings, and working out higher salaries for teachers.

But in 1963, protests broke out when civil rights leaders and black students accused Mr. Willis's administration of fostering segregation in the schools. Protesters burned mobile classrooms, boycotted classes, went on hunger strikes and picketed Mr. Willis's home. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led some of the protests against Mr. Willis. At the 1963 march on Washington, 3,000 Chicagoans strode down Pennsylvania Avenue, chanting ''Down with Willis.''

For three stormy years rife with similar upheavals, Mr. Willis kept his post, finally leaving in 1966, four months before his term was to end. After leaving Chicago, Mr. Willis worked for two years as schools superintendent in Broward County, Fla.. He retired in 1972. Source: NY Times

Benjamin C. Willis may have been revered in certain quarters, but he was a vile reminder of the scourge of segregation and racism in this country. Though the name of the Willis Tower, named after Willis Group Holdings, has nothing to do with him, the name is a stark reminder of the racial turmoil that existed in the United States during that dark period. It should also serve as a motivator for our young black men and women to reach for the stars, get a solid education and give back to your society because so many blacks fought and died for us to be treated with respect and not discriminated against.

To read more about Benjamin C. Willis, CLICK HERE.