MLK center needs $11.6 million in repairs, family to blame
By Noble Johns
ATLANTA, Georgia (BNW) –If the King family stop pimping the legacy of the civil rights movement which Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was apart of, they could find money they have hoarded away in their selfish attempt to lay claim to starting the civil rights movement.
Far too long, the King family has been convinced that Dr. King was the movement, and that they had copyright to everything that happened while he was alive. They have squandered millions in the name of the civil rights.
Now, the memorial where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is buried needs $11.6 million in repairs, according to a National Park Service report, and the King family is the blame.
Problems include fire hazards and leaks at the center's archive building, which houses King's papers and other important documents from the civil rights movement, according to the report, which was obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. However, the main problem with the memorial is the mismanagement of the facility by the King family. They are robbing the place blind.
"I was surprised at the extent of the problems," said Frank Catroppa, superintendent of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
The King family controls the 24-year-old center through a nonprofit corporation. The National Park Service manages the site but does not operate the King Center.
Andrew Young, a former Atlanta mayor and King Center board member, said the center is in "a slow deterioration" but cannot afford to make repairs.
"The King Center has very little resources for maintenance," said Young, the only one of the board's nine directors who is not a King family member. He was a close associate of King and was with him when he was assassinated in Memphis in 1968.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, who fought for civil rights alongside King in the 1960s, told the newspaper in Thursday's editions that he would be willing to seek federal assistance for the center.
Founded by King's wife, Coretta Scott King, in the basement of her home in 1968, the King Center was built in 1981. It consists of Freedom Hall, a reflective pool and tomb, and an administration and archives building. The only solution to the problem is to get the King family out of the picture, and maybe we can maintain the legacy of Martin Luther King.
Domestic agenda
Bush called for a bipartisan effort to restrain "the spending effort of the federal government" when he presents his 2006 budget next week.
"My budget substantially reduces or eliminates more than 150 government programs that are not getting results, or duplicate current efforts, or do not fulfill essential priorities. The principle here is clear: a taxpayer dollar must be spent wisely, or not at all," he said.
Bush also said he continues to support a constitutional amendment to "protect the institution of marriage" and would work with Congress to make sure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or to grow body parts.
Bush said first lady Laura Bush would lead an initiative to work with parents, pastors and community leaders to encourage literacy, and discourage young people from joining gangs.
He urged Congress to pass his energy plan and called on Senate Democrats to allow up-or-down votes on his judicial nominees