Product Description

Dexter Scott King's disarmingly candid memoir of growing up in the shadow of his father is now in trade paperback.Seven-year-old Dexter Scott King was in his family's den watching television when a special news bulletin announced that his father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been shot in Memphis. While the nation and the world mourned the death of one of the most important and powerful figures in history, the young son began what would be a lifelong personal journey of not only learning to cope with the loss of his loving father, but of exploring how best to make sure that his message and spirit lived on. Remarkably honest and emotionally intimate, this book offers a rare and touching look into what it is like to grow up as the son of a world renowned hero.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #930676 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780446692373
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
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 [who] 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.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The author recalls his emotional struggles until he turned back to father Martin Luther King's writings.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
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. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A view into the first family of civil rights
I read this book a few yrs ago and can find a little of the truth behind the present day drama of the king family.
I liked Dexter's explaination of the protection of his father's intellectual property and I can get a better perspective of Dexter the man from reading this book. Dexter uses undiagnosed ADD as a reason why he couldn't complete his studies at Morehouse and why he spent years moving from occupation to occupation from Atlanta cop to Project Manager to King Center president to Actor to King Center Chair to King Estate Chair...He gives us some insight on why has yet to marry.
I came away with the view that it is tragic to allow yourself to coast off of your family's legacy without creating your own.

Finally their side of the story
I read this book by Dexter King, but I have also read Growing Up X. There were some similarities between both books, but there were some differences also. I had heard some of the rumors and speculation about the King family trying to milk Dr. King's legacy in the monetary sense. However, Dexter does a good job of clearing things up about how much time and money is spent protecting his father's legacy due to the fact that some individuals and corporations believe and/or assume that Dr. Kings' speeches and papers are public property and can use them for monetary profit. I agree whole heartly with the King family in protecting their father's legacy including all of his speeches and writings. The thing that stood out the most to me pertaining to this issue was that we as blacks in America discount great black thinkers, intellectuals and people who take a stance in the black community. We have a belief that our black intellects work such Dr King, Malcolm X and Medgar Evers is not as valuable as compared to that of their white counter parts such as Nixon, Kennedy or Bush.

Dexter King also gives us some insight into how he grew up near housing projects in Vine City, attended a exclusive private school then public high school, and life at Morehouse. I had no ideal that Dexter's mother currently lives in Vine City, because gossips have always said she was living in a huge mansion in Buckhead. Next Dexter talks about his love life, but never gives any names but calls one serious girlfriend "Mon Ami." I would recommend this book to anyone trying to find out more about the King family.

This is a terrific book.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Growing Up King." This is a
terrific book. Not only is this book required reading for
any student of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it also brings
insights how the King Center in Atlanta is run while main-
taining its mission to spread the teachings of Dr King. There
are lessons here for any well-intentioned organization.

This book is clearly written by subject and most of the subjects
overlap chronologically.

Thank you, Dexter King!