Coretta Scott King PASS AWAY JANUARY.31.2006
assassination into one devoted to enshrining his legacy of human rights and
equality, has died at the age of 78.
Flags at the
the King family said in a statement. The family said she died during the night.
The widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. suffered a serious stroke and heart attack in 2005.
because we have a chance to look at her and see what she did and who she was,"
poet Maya Angelou said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
because she did live, and she was ours. I mean African-Americans and white
Americans and Asians, Spanish-speaking - she belonged to us and that's a great thing."
the King family, broke the news on NBC's "Today" show: "I understand that she
was asleep last night and her daughter (Bernice King) went in to wake her up
and she was not able to and so she quietly slipped away. Her spirit will
remain with us just as her husband's has."
days of the American civil rights movement, and after his assassination in
reality," King said soon after his slaying.
observed as a national holiday, first celebrated in 1986.
and brotherhood, presiding with a quiet, steady, stoic
presence over seminars and conferences on global issues.
Al Sharpton said in a statement. "The only thing worse
than losing her is if we never had her."
King also wrote a book, "My Life with Martin Luther King Jr.," and,
in 1969 founded the multimillion-dollar
for Nonviolent Social Change. She saw to it that the center became deeply
involved with the issues she said breed violence - hunger, unemployment, voting rights and racism.
evils in our society," she often said.
and television companies, video arcades, gun manufacturers and toy
makers she accused of promoting violence. She called for regulation of their advertising.
dinner a couple of days earlier, smiling from her wheelchair but not
speaking. The crowd gave her a standing ovation.
selling the site to the National Park Service to let the family focus less
on grounds maintenance and more on King's message. Two of
the four children were strongly against such a move.
of Music and planning on a singing career when a friend introduced her
to Martin Luther King, a young Baptist minister studying at
meeting a young minister at that time."
everything I ever wanted in a woman. We ought to get married someday."
Eighteen months later -
the
enacting his philosophy of direct social action.
at his side as he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. She marched
beside him from
triumphal climax to his drive for a voting rights law.
children to lead thousands marching in honor of her slain husband
and to plead for his cause.
crisis," she once said. "I think the Lord gives
you strength when you need it. God was using us - and now he's using me, too."
were highly visible in 1976 when former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter ran for president.
When an integration dispute at Carter's Plains church created a furor, King
campaigned at Carter's side the next day.
Carter to serve as part of the
United Nations, where the ambassador was Andrew Young.
who pleaded guilty to killing her husband and then recanted.
at least we and the nation can have the satisfaction of knowing that justice
has run its course in this tragedy," she told a judge.
store. To help her family during the Depression, young Coretta picked cotton.
Dexter, who in turn passed the job on to her other son, Martin III, in 2004. Dexter
continued to serve as the center's chief operating officer. Martin III also has
served on the
Christian Leadership Conference, co founded by his father in 1957. Daughter
Yolanda became an actress and the youngest child, Bernice, became a Baptist minister.
war in
undeclared war on our central cities, a war being fought by gangs with guns for drugs."
limit the advertising of cigarettes because of their effect on human health,"
she said
allow virtually anyone in
in the nation to see graphic violence."
Cathedral where her husband preached five years earlier.
she preached, "but I see a new social order and I see the dawn of a new day."
Coretta Scott King PASS AWAY JANUARY.31.2006.
Coretta Scott King, known first as the wife of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., then as his
widow, then as an avid proselytizer for his vision of racial peace and nonviolent social
change, died Monday at a hospital in
dream was also hers.
'Eclectic' Hospital with a
Founder Prone to Legal Problems
WEB SITE'S ABOUT THIS STORY
http://www.thekingcenter.org/index.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coretta_Scott_King