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MLK III: ‘MIX-UP' KEPT BELAFONTE FROM MOM’S FUNERAL: Martin Luther King III says invite was rescinded by mistake.
*Harry Belafonte has expressed being extremely hurt by the perceived politics that kept him from the funeral of his friend, Coretta Scott King. The Chicago Defender is now reporting that her son, Martin Luther King III, says Belafonte’s omission from the program was the result of a “big mix-up,” and not because of a request from deep within the Oval Office as Belafonte was told.
The singer/activist, a longtime critic of President George W. Bush, said that he was invited to speak at the service, but that the invitation was rescinded at the insistence of the White House. Bush was among the four U.S. presidents who attended the Feb. 7 service near Atlanta.
"There was a big mix-up," King explained of Belafonte’s rescinded invite. "It certainly didn't have anything to do with President Bush being there."
King says the confusion surrounding Belafonte’s invite stems from it being sent by a person helping to plan the service, not directly from the family, King said.
A month before the funeral, Belafonte had called Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world" during a trip to Venezuela. He has also criticized the war in Iraq and the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
In other King family news, the siblings are hoping to raise at least $30 million in the auction of sermons, books, notes and speeches by their father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The items went on public display Wednesday at Sotheby’s in New York in preparation for the June 30 sale.
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