King tribute turns into monumental controversy

When the men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. decided 19 years ago to build a lasting monument to their fallen brother, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., they thought creating a national memorial would be the perfect tribute But what started off as a modest project among the brothers of the Iota Upsilon Lambda alumni chapter in Silver Spring. Md.. has become a major controversy.

In 1998, the U.S. Congress granted the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation Inc. (a nonprofit entity formed by the Alphas) the exclusive right and authority to lead the memorial project in Washington, D.C., and set a 2003 deadline for them to break ground on the $100 million monument.

The memorial will be located at the Tidal Basin on a four-acre site adjacent to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and on a direct line between the Lincoln and the Jefferson memorials. King will be the first African American to be so honored in the National Mall area.

The foundation already has raised more than $15 million from individuals and corporations for the monument, and has established an honorary board (including William Gray, head of the United Negro College Fund; all the Black Greek letter organizations; and Hugh Price of the National Urban League).

At press time, a March 14 fundraising gala in New York City was planned, with Rev. Calvin Butts, Tommy Hilfiger, former New York Mayor David Dinkins and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-- N.Y.) on the guest list.

But fundraising efforts have been stymied because the King family has demanded a portion of movies donated to the memorial effort as part of a "permissions agreement."

The threat by the family to file a lawsuit if they are not compensated has paralyzed several major fundraising initiatives, says a major donor who does not want to be identified. General Motors, which has already donated $750,000 to the architectural design of the project, was prepared to announce another $5 million donation around the King holiday this year, but decided to hold off until the conflict is resolved.

The threat of a lawsuit alarmed even some King family supporters, who were aware that they have pursued legal action against others seeking to use the civil rights leader's image, but never thought they would target the monument.

LeRoy Lowery, executive director of the King memorial foundation in Washington, D.C., says as far back as 1996, the King family had expressed reservations to the fraternity about the project's ultimate impact on the fundraising efforts for the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. Lowery, the son of King confidant Joseph Lowery, former head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), says fraternity members thought they had reached an agreement with the family that included making Coretta Scott King an honorary co-chair.

"In November 1996, President [Bill] Clinton signed a bill authorizing the collection of funds for the construction of the memorial," Lowery says. "We could not have moved forward without the King family's concurrence."

The family generally doesn't capitulate. In 1993, the Kings sued USA Today, which marked the 30th anniversary of the 1,600-word "I Have a Dream" speech by reprinting it without permission. In 1996, the King Center unsuccessfully sued CBS because the network included excerpts from the "Dream" speech in a five-part video series, The 20th Century with Mike Wallace. Even the late Henry Hampton, producer of the Pulitzer Prize-- winning documentary series Eyes on the Prize, was challenged by the family for the unauthorized use of King's image.

In addition, the family requested that the Library of Congress pay up to $20 million for the "right" to archive King's papers. The library balked at the fee. It rarely pays for materials; most consider it an honor to be asked to donate papers to the institution, and it has never paid such a large sum for any item.

The French telecommunications giant Alcatel paid the family an undisclosed sum to use King's image in a television advertisment. In the ad, the scene around the Lincoln Memorial is digitally manipulated to make it appear as if King is speaking to no one as opposed to the real masses gathered at the 1963 March on Washington. Atlanta-based Cingular Wireless also paid an undisclosed sum to use a portion of King's "I Have A Dream" speech in a cellular telephone ad that included quotes from Kermit the Frog and Homer Simpson.

The family's record of aggressive actions against public efforts to celebrate King's legacy, while selling his image to big business, has led to charges of profit-- mongering. Harry E. Johnson Sr., a Houston lawyer, national president of the Alphas and chairman of the foundation's board of directors, says the family was concerned with protecting King's image.

"The bottom line is there is a cost of doing business that they feel they are entitled to," he says.

According to a source close to the negotiations, the King family has put that cost at less than 5 percent of all donations to the memorial (down from a lump sum of more than $20 million at the beginning of the talks). The foundation and the family were scheduled to seal the deal on March 6.

While paying fees may be the cost of doing business, many people are appalled at what they perceive as the King family's cravenness.

"Alcatel and other companies that use King's image are not on the forefront of any struggle that resembles King's life commitment, nor are they seeking to preserve King's legacy," says Mark Chapman, a professor of African American Studies and Theology at Fordham University and an alumnus of King's alma mater, Morehouse College. "They are merely seeking to sell their product. It seems to me that to treat individuals who are not profit-driven the same way you treat capitalist companies is unfair and dishonest to the legacy of King."

Attorney John C. Herman of King & Spalding (no relation) in Atlanta represented the family in the memorial negotiations, but referred requests for comment to the King Center. Neither Tricia Harris, executive director of the King Center, nor Dexter King, its president, responded to inquiries.

Despite the tension, one family member did comment on the memorial effort:

"Because I'm not at the King Center, I basically have no input at all," Martin Luther King III of the SCLC says. "What I can say is it's wonderful that the Alphas have guided and supported the creation of the project. And I think it's going to be a tribute that will be acknowledged by the many millions who come to Washington."

- Trevor W. Coleman

Copyright Crisis Publishing Company, Incorporated Mar/Apr 2002
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