The actor and activist Harry Belafonte is suing the children of his close friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The dispute centers on three documents Belafonte tried to put up for auction in 2008 in order to benefit a nonprofit that works with street gangs. The documents include King’s outline for a speech on Vietnam and notes that were in his pocket when he was assassinated. Belafonte says they were given to him rightfully by King and others. But they have been in legal limbo after King’s heirs claimed they were taken without permission, one of several attempts by the heirs to reclaim control of King’s documents. Belafonte is now asking a federal court to uphold his rightful ownership. He told The New York Times, “The papers are symbolic. It’s really about what happened to the children, and I feel that somewhere, in this one area, I really failed Martin.”