Martin Luther King Jr., Coca-Cola, and the Perils of Neoliberal Memorialisation

In 1995, Martin Luther King Jr.'s son developed his father's legacy into a brand, like Coca-Cola. In doing so, he created controversy over who were the rightful heirs to his father's work. Did the King family, civil rights activists, or the American people own his words and legacy? In this paper, I examine the perils of memorialisation when one family attempts to control the historical legacy of an activist who dedicated his life to the civil rights of all people.

Speaker: Daniel T. Fleming
Dr Daniel T. Fleming is lecturer in US history at the University of New South Wales. He has recently published Living the Dream: The Contested History of Martin Luther King Jnr Day, University of North Carolina Press, Durham NC