Dexter Scott King, a celebrated activist and son of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, has died at age 62. The King Center in Atlanta announced the news on Jan. 22, saying their loved one died at his California home after a “valiant battle with prostate cancer.”
“He transitioned peacefully in his sleep at home with me in Malibu,” Leah Weber King said about her late husband, per The King Center. “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.”
Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO of The King Center, also expressed her sorrow in a statement she gave after the loss of her brother.
“Words cannot express the heart break I feel from losing another sibling,” she said in the statement released by The King Center. “I’m praying for strength to get through this very difficult time.”
Dexter, who was born in Atlanta and raised in Ebenezer Baptist Church, was named after Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. That’s where Martin Luther King, Jr. first served as pastorate, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. After graduating from Frederick Douglas High School, Dexter attended Morehouse College in Atlanta. Dexter, who was just 7 years old when his father was assassinated on April 4, 1968, dedicated his life to protecting the legacy of the civil rights champion.
The Atlanta native served as Chairman of The King Center and President of the King Estate. He was particularly focused on preserving his father’s intellectual property.
As the third of the King’s four children, Dexter portrayed his father in the 2002 movie, The Rosa Parks Story. His mother Coretta passed away in 2006, a year before the death of her oldest child, Yolanda King, CBS News reported.
Reverend Al Sharpton said he is heartbroken by Dexter’s death, but also “comforted by the knowledge he is reunited with his parents and sister.”
“Dexter was only seven when his hero, his role model, and, most importantly, his father was taken from us,” Sharpton said in a statement, according to CBS News. “He turned that pain into activism, however, and dedicated his life to advancing the dream Martin and Coretta Scott King had for their children, their grandchildren, and all the generations to come after.”
