A Legacy Of Pain

A LEGACY OF PAIN

Researched by V. Ray

THE LESSER KNOWN

HISTORY OF THE

KING FAMILY

Before the Obamas, one of the most revered Black families in American history has been the King family. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King and their family are Black icons. In doing research for Black History Month articles I learned that the King family has had a series of tragedies befall them that are probably not common knowledge to most Americans, Black or otherwise.

Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy as a civil rights champion and a leader of peaceful protests is world renowned. He was able to deliver the plight of Black voters and citizens in the south to the front page of international newspapers and news reels. MLK exposed atrocities in the south on the 6 o’clock evening news on a regular basis and helped changed the tide of American sentiment toward race and equality in the 50s and 60s. This for both Blacks and others of the era.

When Dr. King was assassinated at the young age of 39 the nation mourned. The gunshot that murdered Dr. King still echoes in the ghettos of America even today as the mentality of that era manifests in a system whose very architecture is the modern day Bull Connor or Gov. George Wallace.

This, however, was only the beginning. Alfred Daniel Williams King, brother of Martin Luther King, Jr., was found drowned in the swimming pool at his home in 1969. Like his brother, Alfred, known to some as A.D., was active in the civil rights movement and was also a staunch believer in the importance of maintaining nonviolence in direct-action campaigns.

A.D. was arrested along with his famous brother and 70 others while participating in an October 1960 lunch-counter sit-in in Atlanta. In 1963, A. D. King became a leader of the Birmingham campaign, while pastoring at First Baptist Church of Ensley in Birmingham, Alabama. On May 11, 1963, King’s house was bombed. In August, after a bomb exploded at the home of a prominent black lawyer in downtown Birmingham, outraged citizens, intent on revenge, poured into the city streets. While rocks were being thrown at gathering policemen and the situation escalated, A. D. King climbed on top of a parked car and shouted to the rioters in an attempt to quell their fury: "My friends, we have had enough problems tonight. If you're going to kill someone, then kill me; ... Stand up for your rights, but with nonviolence."

Unlike his brother, A. D. remained mostly outside the media’s spotlight. As one of his associates said, "Not being in the limelight never seemed to affect him, but because he stayed in the background, many people never knew that he was deeply involved, too."

After his brother's assassination in April 1968, there was speculation that A. D. might become the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). A. D., however, made no effort to assume his deceased brother’s role, although he did continue to be active in the Poor People's Campaign and in other work on behalf of SCLC.

On July 21, 1969, nine days before his 39th birthday, A. D. King was found dead in the swimming pool at his home. The cause of his death was listed as an accidental drowning. His father, Martin Luther King, Sr., said in his autobiography, "Alveda had been up the night before, she said, talking with her father and watching a television movie with him. He'd seemed unusually quiet...and not very interested in the film.

Alfred Daniel Williams King died under suspicious circumstances in 1969.

But he had wanted to stay up and Alveda left him sitting in an easy chair, staring at the TV, when she went off to bed... I had questions about A.D.'s death and I still have them now. He was a good swimmer. Why did he drown? I don't know -- I don't know that we will ever know what happened." Naomi King, the widow, said, "There is no doubt in my mind that the system killed my husband.”

On June 30, 1974, MLK’s mother, Mrs. Alberta Williams King, was shot and killed. The murder happened as Mrs. King sat at the organ in the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. On this Sunday, June 30th, Marcus Wayne Chenault, 23, opened fire with two revolvers. "I'm tired of all this!" he screamed. He wounded three people, two of them, Mrs. King and Deacon Edward Boykin, died.

When Martin Luther King, Sr., asked Chenault why he did it, the youth replied: "Because she was a Christian and all Christians are my enemies." The next day, Chenault declared that his real name was "Servant Jacob." "I am a Hebrew," he said. "I was sent here on a purpose and it's partly accomplished." Chenault's religious beliefs appeared to be a confused amalgam largely of his own devising. Probably central to his motivation was his sense of inadequacy and need for attention. Only two weeks before the killings he told a friend that he would soon "be all over the newspapers."

Alberta Williams King, mother of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr. and Alfred Williams King was herself slain during a church service in 1974.

Again, through an act of violence, there ended a life that was totally nonviolent, a life that was thoroughly spiritual, a life that reflected love for all persons and unselfish service to humankind. Once more, the indomitable faith of the King family was tested, and again love prevailed amid sadness.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr., struck by the violent deaths of his two sons and by the tragic death of his wife Alberta, said at her funeral service on July 3, “I cannot hate any man.”

CORETTA SCOTT KING, et al, Plaintiffs, Vs. Case No. 97242 LOYD JOWERS, et al, Defendants

Another egregious event was the absence of news coverage of the civil suit brought by the King family over the conspiracy to assassinate Martin Luther King, Jr. CORETTA SCOTT KING, et al, Plaintiffs, Vs. Case No. 97242 LOYD JOWERS, et al, Defendants was a civil trial held in the circuit court of Shelby County, Tennessee for the thirtieth judicial district at Memphis held between November 15 to December 8, 1999. The trial found defendant Loyd Jowers and unknown co-defendants civilly liable for participation in a conspiracy to assassinate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the amount of $100. Members of Dr. King's family acted as plaintiffs.

Loyd Jowers was the owner of a restaurant (Jim's Grill) near the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. In December 1993, Jowers appeared on ABC's Prime Time Live and related the details of an alleged conspiracy involving the Mafia and the U.S. government to kill King. According to Jowers, James Earl Ray was a scapegoat, and was not involved in the assassination. Jowers believed that Memphis police officer Lieutenant Earl Clark fired the fatal shot.

William Pepper, the Kings' lawyer, told jurors Jowers was part of a vast conspiracy involving the Mafia and agents of the federal government. He said King was targeted because of his opposition to the Vietnam War and plans for a huge march on Washington. A cover-up following the assassination in Memphis in 1968 involved the FBI, CIA, the media and Army intelligence, as well as many state and city officials, Pepper said. He told the jurors they could rewrite history with a conspiracy verdict. The jury of 6 Black and 6 White jurors took about three hours to deliver a victorious verdict for the King family.

A full transcript of the civil trial can be downloaded here:
http://www.thekingcenter.org/civil-case-king-family-versus-jowers

At a news conference in Atlanta after the trial, Dexter King said his family was just happy to have resolved decades of doubts. "We don't care what the Justice Department does," Because of information that came out in the Memphis trial, he said, "We believe that this case is over. ... We know what happened. This is the period at the end of the sentence. It's been painful and also has been bittersweet. Bitter because of the tragedy, obviously, but liberating and sweet in the sense that we have been vindicated and, ultimately, that the significance of this historical verdict that really rewrites history is liberating. Now we can move on with our lives, have a sense of closure and healing."

The widow of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. says she feels vindicated by the jury's finding that her husband was the victim of a conspiracy, not a lone assassin, and says it is the duty of the Justice Department to look at the information presented in the Memphis case.

"I think that if people will look at the evidence that we have, it's conclusive and I think the Justice Department has a responsibility to do what it feels is the right thing to do, the just thing to do," said Coretta Scott King.

The disservice here is that this event should be a major part of American history but most Americans don’t even know that it happened.

#positiveblack