By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
The family of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has expressed its hope to review records related to his assassination before they are made public. King’s family’s statement came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to declassify records surrounding the assassinations of the civil rights icon, President John F. Kennedy, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
“For us, the assassination of our father is a deeply personal family loss that we have endured over the last 56 years,” the family stated in a message shared by King’s daughter, Bernice King. “We hope to be provided the opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public release.” The family also noted not granting interviews as they await further information.
The release of the documents hasn’t been the only moment in the news this week for King’s family.
The nation observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which fell on the same Monday as Trump’s inauguration this year. Bernice King, the youngest of King’s four children, told MSNBC that the overlap provided an opportunity to recall her father’s legacy while the country transitions to a new administration.
“It’s wonderful that this occurs on the King holiday, the inauguration, because it reminds us of King,” said King, who was five years old when her father was assassinated in 1968. “It points us back to King. It says, ‘When we move forward, we’ve got to do it in the spirit of King.’”
She called on Americans to remain steadfast in the values her father championed, particularly nonviolence. “We have to strategize. We’ve been missing the strategy. We’ve been missing the spirit of Dr. King,” she said. “The spirit of Dr. King is nonviolence. And nonviolence is not just a posture; it’s a mindset. It’s a love-centered way of thinking, speaking, acting, and engaging that leads to personal, cultural, and societal transformation.”
This year marked just the third time that Martin Luther King Jr. Day coincided with a presidential inauguration, the first during President Bill Clinton’s second term in 1997 and the second during President Barack Obama’s second term in 2013. Obama took his oath of office using a Bible that once belonged to King.
In yet another incident this week that stirred controversy surrounding the King family, rapper Sexyy Red posted an AI-generated image of herself and Dr. King at a nightclub on social media on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The image showed the rapper holding hands with King in a crowded setting. The post, which lacked a caption, was widely criticized and later deleted following a request from Bernice King.
“This is intentionally distasteful, dishonoring, deplorable, and disrespectful to my family and my father, who is not here to respond himself because he was assassinated for working for your civil and human rights,” Bernice King wrote in response.
Despite calling out the post, King also addressed negative comments directed at the rapper, writing, “I don’t believe Sexyy Red to be a ‘degenerate,’ ‘ghetto,’ or ‘trash,’” King stated. “I have spoken out in the past about the use of and comparison to either of my parents to denigrate other people.”
Sexyy Red immediately apologized, saying, “You ain’t wrong; I never meant to disrespect your family. My apologies. Just reposted something I saw that I thought was innocent.”
King accepted the apology. “I value you as a human being,” King responded. “I know that my father has become a bit of a caricature to the world and that his image is often used with no regard to his family, his sacrificial work, or the tragic, unjust way in which he died (a state-sanctioned assassination). Unfortunately, I regularly challenge the disregard.”
Source: Seattle Medium