Mr. Dexter's wife, Leah Weber King, said he passed away in his sleep at his home in Malibu, California, USA at the age of 62.
"He gave it his all and fought this terrible disease to the very end. Like all challenges in his life, he faced this obstacle with courage and strength," said Leah.
Dexter Scott King, son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Photo: Reuters
Civil rights activist Dexter King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 1961. He was named after the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, where his father first became a pastor. When he was seven years old, his father was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.
Following in his father's footsteps, Dexter King attended the black liberal arts college Morehouse College in Atlanta. At the time of his death, he was both president of the King Center and chairman of the King Estate.
He is also an actor and played his father in the 2002 TV movie "The Rosa Parks Story".
“There are no words to describe the pain I feel at the loss of my brother,” Dr. Bernice A. King, Mr. Dexter’s sister and CEO of The King Center, said in a statement.
Reverend Al Sharpton, founder and president of the civil rights organization National Action Network (USA), also expressed his grief at the death of Mr. Dexter King.
"Dexter was only 7 years old when his role model, his hero, his most important person, his father, passed away," said civil rights activist Sharpton. "However, he turned that pain into positive motivation and dedicated his life to the dream that Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King left for their children and all generations to come."
Civil rights activist Dexter Scott King was survived by his wife of 11 years, Leah Weber King, his sister Bernice King, and his brother Martin Luther King III.
Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters)
Source
Comment (0)