By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Arts Consortium of Cincinnati said Tuesday it would change the name of a downtown breakfast honoring the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. out of respect for his family.

The Jan. 20 breakfast, traditionally known as the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dreamkeeper Awards Breakfast, will now be called the Arts Consortium's Dreamkeeper Awards Breakfast. The consortium's board of directors reached the unanimous decision Monday.

Martin Luther King III, son of the late civil-rights leader and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, asked the consortium in November to "use every possible means to prevent such a planned event." He said holding the breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown would violate the boycott of Cincinnati and defile his father's dream.

"After hearing that Martin Luther King III has asked that Dr. King's name be removed from the breakfast title, we felt that we had to respect his wishes," said Sharon Hardin, executive director of the consortium. "This organization has a lot of respect for the legacy left by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and applauds the work that the King family continues to do .... The purpose of this breakfast is to unite the community and not divide it."

Ms. Hardin said the breakfast will still center on the philosophies of Dr. King - peace, nonviolence, equality and hard work in the community - but his image will not appear on any of the program materials - except invitations and tickets, which have already been distributed. Mr. King has been a strong supporter of the boycott and the grass-roots, civil rights groups that organized it. He has visited Cincinnati several times since the April 2001 riots and has walked the streets of Over-the-Rhine with the Rev. Damon Lynch III, and a boycott leader.

E-mail kaldridge@enquirer.com