Growing Up King

December 2, 2002
Scott King, the youngest son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., grew up in a world that was forever changing as a direct result of his father's life and, more importantly, of his father's death. In this memoir of his own life, King attempts to illuminate the significance of growing up under the weight of his father's legacy, struggling to live up to everything his last name has come to stand for. He sadly records his failure to finish his degree at Morehouse College, a tradition for male members of the King family going back to "Great-granddaddy A.D. Williams was in the Morehouse class of 1898, the second graduating class of its existence." He recounts his first attempt to serve as president of the King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, where he was elected to the position amid controversy from the board of directors, and subsequently resigned after five months. However, King fails to take the reader on any sort of coherent emotional journey through his struggle to become a "King," and the narrative is marred by clunky transitions, uninteresting digressions and a sometimes combative tone at odds with the gravity King gives his subject matter. There are terrific accounts here of the conspiracy theories surrounding his father's assassination, the famous political and entertainment figures that have always been a part of King's circle and an extended family that helped to support and shape the children of a legend, but they are mired in tedious details that detract from the story King is trying to tell.

September 15, 2002
The author recalls his emotional struggles until he turned back to father Martin Luther King's writings.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2003
Dexter King, who bears an incredible resemblance to his famous father, was seven years old when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. In this memoir, he recalls the weight of expectations placed on him as the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Baptist ministers, even before his father became famous as a civil rights leader. Traumatized by the death of his father, Dexter recalls the feelings of doom among all the King children, giving them a special kinship with the Kennedys. A host of surrogate fathers, including Andrew Young, provided needed male guidance, but Dexter recalls the powerful strain of living up to the particular expectations placed on King's children as they searched for their own individual identities. He recollects his own personal struggle with faith and aimless years of drifting professionally, dabbling in photography, law enforcement, and music. Dexter also details his troubled tenure as president of the King Center in Atlanta, the controversies regarding protection of intellectual property rights to his father's speeches and writings, and the family's struggle to sort through conspiracy theories surrounding King's assassination.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)