Dexter Scott King, the youngest son of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, passed away at his home in Malibu, California, on January 22, 2024, after an 11-year battle with prostate cancer.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 1961, King was named for the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father served as the first pastor. King was only seven years old when his father was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

Like his father, King attended Morehouse College. He also portrayed his father in a small role in the 2002 film “The Rosa Parks Story,” and he voiced his father’s 34-year-old self in the 1999 educational film “Our Friend Martin.” At the time of his death, he was chairman of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. King previously served as CEO and president of the King Center. He also oversaw the copyright and licensing of his late father’s works.

King married his longtime fiancé, Leah Weber, in 2013. Dexter was an actor, activist, and author of the book “Growing Up King: An Intimate Memoir.” King assembled some of the biggest names in Black music to unite and help in the effort to get Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday declared a national holiday. In 1986, these talented artists, known as the King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew, created a musical tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. called “King Holiday.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy continues through the advocacy of his surviving children, Bernice King, Martin Luther King, III, and the next generation of the King family.