MLK III To Honor Israeli Unsung Heroes

May 5, 2016 | Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the late civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will attend a ceremony in Israel to honor three Israeli community activists on Sunday. He will be in Israel with attorney William Wachtel, son of the late attorney Harry Wachtel, King’s legal counsel during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The pair will honor singer and songwriter Idan Raichel, former Yesh Atid MK Pnina Tamano-Shata and journalist Anat Saragusti for their work on behalf of the Ethiopian community, to advance equal opportunities between communities, and to bring about understanding between Arabs and Jews. The three will receive the 2016 Unsung Hero Award from the Drum Major Institute (DMI) for Public Policy, originally founded as a civil rights organization by Harry Wachtel in 1961 and revived by William Wachtel in 1999. King III serves as an ambassador for the organization. DMI’s stated mission is “to eradicate poverty, racism and militarism/violence, through advocacy, empowerment and education.” It will be the first time the organization grants the award outside the United States and to non-U.S. citizens.