Dexter Scott King, the lookalike of his iconic father, the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., has died.
He was 62.
King died Sunday in California after a bout with prostate cancer, his family confirmed in a statement.
His wife, Leah Weber King, said in a statement from the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change that her husband “transitioned peacefully in his sleep at home with me in Malibu.”
“He gave it everything and battled this terrible disease until the end. As with all the challenges in his life, he faced this hurdle with bravery and might,” she said.
His sister the Rev. Bernice King, the youngest of the siblings said: “Words cannot express the heartbreak. I’m praying for strength to get through this very difficult time.”
Martin Luther King III, the Kings’ oldest surviving child, said in a statement: “The sudden shock is devastating. It is hard to have the right words at a moment like this. We ask for your prayers at this time for the entire King family.”
Dexter King attended Morehouse College and later was the chairman of the King Center, leading the efforts to protect his family’s legacy and intellectual property. He was also president of the King Estate.
“He was the family member delegated to take on the mantle of continuing the precedent his father set by legally protecting his work,” the King Center said in a statement. “He devoted his life to the continued perpetuation of his father’s legacy and the protection of the intellectual property his father left behind.”
In his 2003 memoir, “Growing Up King,” Dexter King addressed many subjects, including the impact of his father’s assassination in 1968, when he was 7.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, the host of MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation,” said in a statement, “He turned that pain into activism, however, and dedicated his life to advancing the dream Martin and Coretta Scott King had for their children.” He added that Dexter King “left us far too soon.”
In 1997,…
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