Why didn’t she mention this before?
Was she ashamed that her parents couldn’t pay, and now she’s not ashamed?
Consider the possibility that there may be pleasant motives.
She said this 16 years ago. She said it again and the paper used it to fill space.
Probably. I don’t see anything wrong with the story, although now MLK is regarded as lower than dirt (because he wasn’t a separatist) so she’s taking the chance of being canceled.