I find it rather nauseating to see prominent Americans, including Ophra Winfrey, current President George W. Bush and past President, William Clinton, among others, clamouring to honor Martin Luther King.

First of all His name wasn't Martin Luther. It was Michael. His father changed his name and his son's name. He never legally changed his name and he lived and died as Michael King. While working on his dissertation for his doctoral degree at Boston University, he heavily plagiarized from another author who had done research on a subject similar to King's. An academic committee later found that over half of King's work was plagiarized, yet would not revoke his doctorate. As King was dead by this time, the committee ruled that revoking the title would serve no purpose. King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech was also not his own. He stole it from a sermon by Archibald Carey, a popular black preacher in the 1950's.

King was under FBI surveillance until he died due to his ties with communist organizations throughout the country. King accepted money from the organizations to fund his movements. In return, King had to appoint communist leaders to run certain districts of his SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), who then could project their communist ideas to larger audiences. One of King's closest friends, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, wrote a book in 1989 in which he talked about King's obsession with white prostitutes. King would often use church donations to have drunken sex parties, yet he was married with four children.

Last Monday was "Martin Luther King" Day. A day when The United States of America can have parades and memorials to honor this man, whom the world views as a saint for his role in the civil rights movement. No other public holiday in the United States honours a single individual. Of all the great leaders in that nation's history - none of them have their own holiday. Even past presidents share President's Day. Yet King - an unprincipled charlatan, plagiarizer and adulterer gets a day of his own. Perhaps it is time for "African" Americans to face the facts about this fraud and find something more worthwhile to do with their time.

William J. Gibbons