King's Unpublished Novels Forthcoming

Four books written by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will be published for the first time in 20 years under a new deal with Beacon Press brokered by King's youngest son. Dexter King called the deal a historic partnership that will bring his father's words to a global audience. Beacon, a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association, publishes books on social justice, human rights and racial equality. The Boston-based publisher will release new editions of "Stride Toward Freedom," "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?," "Trumpet of Conscience" and "Strength to Love" in 2010. Under the exclusive agreement, Beacon will also compile King's writings, sermons, lectures and prayers into new editions to include introductions by leading scholars.

(Associated Press)

King Family Gets Paid for DC Memorial Project

The foundation building a monument to honor Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. at the National Mall in Washington D.C. is paying about $800 thousand to the King family for using the civil rights leaders’ words and image.

It’s an arrangement one leading scholar says King would have found offensive.

The memorial includes a 28 foot sculpture depicting King emerging from a chunk of granite. It’s funded almost entirely with private money raised by the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation. The monument will be turned over to the National Park Service once it’s complete.

(Associated Press)

Mother Fights 'Pornographic' Book

A Gwinnett County parent is trying to get a book she thinks is inappropriate for teenagers taken off school shelves. The book, "Night Talk" by Elizabeth Cox, is about a friendship between a black and a white girl during the civil rights movement. But parent Laura Booth says the book contains graphic sex scenes and "reads like pornography." A committee at South Gwinnett High School denied Booth's request in November, saying the book's instructional value outweighs her concerns.

(Associated Press)

Atlanta cop pleads guilty to conspiracy

A former Atlanta police officer pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for his role in a botched drug raid that ended in the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman.

The former officer, Arthur Tesler, faces more than 10 years in prison on a charge of conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death. The police originally said officers had gone to the home of the woman, Kathryn Johnston, in northwest Atlanta, in 2006 after an informant said he had bought drugs there. But after finding none, officers tried to cover up the mistake by planting bags of marijuana, prosecutors said.

In May, Mr. Tesler, 42, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for lying to investigators, but federal prosecutors decided to pursue more charges after reviewing the case.

(AP)

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Battle over King papers in court

The children of Coretta Scott King and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. are facing off in an Atlanta courtroom today, at odds over their mother's personal papers that could factor into a lucrative book deal. Dexter King is seeking his mother's papers, which are currently in his sister's possession. Bernice King is refusing to turn over the papers, claiming her mother did not want to participate in the $1.4 million book deal. New York-based Penguin Group is threatening to pull the deal this week without the documents.

(Associated Press)

Al Sharpton visits coast

The Reverend Al Sharpton visits Savannah today to encourage Georgia residents to vote. Sharpton, a 2004 presidential candidate and civil rights activist, speaks at 7 tonight at Conner's Temple Baptist Church. He is participating in the "Not This Time" campaign to prevent a repeat of the 2000 and 2004 elections when there were widespread complaints of voter obstruction and vote manipulation.

(Associated Press)

Senate moves to fund unsolved murders

A push to prioritize solving unsolved civil rights murders has passed through the U.S. Senate. The bill would give the Justice Department more money to investigate the cold cases. It authorizes $10 million annually over 10 years to help the FBI and other agencies take a fresh look at dozens of cold cases, mostly in the South. The bill is named after Emmett Till, a black teenager murdered in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman. His killers were never convicted.

(Associated Press)

Civil rights museum gets site

A proposed civil rights museum is planned for Atlanta's central tourist district. The Center for Civil and Human Rights will be located between The New World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium. The center is scheduled to break ground next year and will showcase the city and state's contributions to human rights efforts around the world. Morehouse College's Martin Luther King Jr. Collection is expected to be the centerpiece of the project.

John Lewis on Obama's, Georgia's hopes

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made history on this day in 1963 delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington. Tonight, another African-American will make history. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama will speak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Georgia Congressman John Lewis will also speak tonight. As a young civil rights leader, Lewis was one of 10 people who also spoke alongside Dr. King on this day 45 years ago. He is the only one of those men alive today. Lewis says it doesn’t bother him that Barack Obama is not a child of the movement he helped foster. In fact, he says, Obama is free of the battle scars left on he and those of his generation.

"He never saw the signs that said 'White Men,' 'Colored Men,' 'White Women,' 'Colored Women,' " Lewis adds. "He never tasted the fruits of segregation and racial discrimination, so he is a different human being. He should be free to liberate the rest of America, and maybe take a message to the rest of the world."

Still, Lewis says he would like to hear from Obama that this is not the end — or even a new beginning — but a continuation of a long struggle. Lewis says that all over his home state of Georgia, young people feel something is happening.

"And you hear people saying, 'I was not there with you to march across the bridge at Selma. I was not at the March on Washington. But I am in this struggle to make Barack Obama president."

Tonight Lewis will pay tribute to Dr. King.

(NPR)

Confederate flag at center of court ruling

In a federal appeals court ruling today involving the Confederate Flag ... the panel has ruled in favor of a Tennessee high school that banned students from wearing the flag. The ban came after students came to school wearing the flag prompted a fight, a civil rights complaint, a racial slur and a noose. The court ruled against three students who claimed their free speech rights were violated, saying the school was acting to prevent disruption of education.

Lewis confirms switch to Obama

Saying "something is happening in America", and that "people are pressing for a new day in American politics", state Representative John Lewis confirmed Wednesday he is switching his support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Lewis says he will cast his superdelegate vote for Obama at the party's convention in Denver this summer.

Lewis says this was a difficult decision. "I have a deep and abiding love for both Senator Clinton and President Clinton. Senator Clinton is a brilliant and capable candidate...(but)the people of my district have spoken...I should represent their wishes at the convention".

Lewis' 5th Congressional District constituents supported Obama nearly 3-to-1 in Georgia's presidential primary. His endorsement is coveted given his standing as one of the last major civil rights leaders of the 1960's.

Civil rights leaders unhappy with action on hate crimes

Today civil rights leaders accused the federal government has been sluggish in dealing with hate crimes. At a news conference at the federal courthouse in Atlanta, the Reverend Al Sharpton called for a march in Washington on November 16th. Sharpton said marchers might circle the Justice Department. The civil rights leaders also called for all Americans not to spend any money on November 2nd as an economic boycott of the federal government's handling of hate crimes.

Million-dollar grant for civil rights museum

Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System is giving a million dollars toward the future home of Doctor Martin Luther King’s papers. Plans for the Civil and Human Rights center are still being developed, but it’s proposed for downtown Atlanta. The money from Turner will go toward hiring staff and consultants working to develop the center. Organizers hope to break ground on the center by the end of next year.