MLK Family On Their First Christmas Without Dr. King In 1968
With the dismal reports on unemployment and poverty levels, this holiday season is sure to be a tough one for many families. But no struggle compares to that of a family grieving over a lost love one during the holidays.
"60 Minutes" took a step back in time, releasing video of a 1968 interview with the King family during their first Christmas mere months after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The video shows a young Dexter, Bunny, Yokie and Martin Luther King III opening up about everything from Christmas gifts to their father's legacy. Mrs. Coretta Scott King also spoke about how that year would not only be a hard one for her family, but for the entire country after the death of both her husband and John F. Kennedy.
"Christmas will be sad for us, as it will be for many people I think this year," she told "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace. "I would imagine that the whole nation cannot really have a happy Christmas with these two great tragedies and the other conditions of the world still involved in the war, Vietnam, and all the problems of poverty and the conflict, and our urban crises and so on."
Mrs. King went on to speak words that still have relevance today, as families around the country continue to endure hardship.
"But I think that it doesn't mean that we will sit around and bathe in our grief," she said. "I think that very often, a time like this causes people to really reflect on the deeper meaning of say Christmas or any other occasion."
The legendary civil rights leader's family was recently in the news when the corporation in charge of the King estate sued television anchor Howard Nelson Ballou for his possession of historic documents. Ballou's mother, 86-year-old Maude Williams Ballou, served as Dr. King's personal secretary in the 1950's and said he wanted her to keep the documents.
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First Posted: 12/20/11 09:32 AM ET Updated: 12/20/11 09:32 AM ET