Coretta Scott King: In Remembrance Of

I am convinced that if I had not had a wife with the fortitude, strength and calmness of Coretta, I could not have stood up amid the ordeals and tensions surrounding the Montgomery movement. I came to see the real meaning of that rather trite statement:
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2006 AP/ World wide photos SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2006 Lying in State Georgia State Capitol 12:00 noon 8:00 p.m. Special Remarks: The Honorable Sonny Perdue Governor, State of Georgia The Honorable Shirley Franklin Mayor, City of Atlanta MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2006 Lying in Repose Ebenezer Baptist Church Heritage Sanctuary 10:00 a.m. 12:00 midnight Memorial Musical Celebration Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary 12:00 noon 1:00 p.m. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2006 A Celebration of Life New Birth Missionary Baptist Church 12:00 noon CE L E B R AT ION OF T H E L I F E OF Prelude Mr. Russell Goode Chattanooga Public Schools (Ret.) Atlanta Symphony Orchestra New Birth Total Praise Choir Minister Byron Cage, Director Accompanied by the J. Berry Orchestra of Dekalb County Processional The King Family Call to Worship Bishop Eddie L. Long Opening Prayer Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook President, Hampton Ministers Conference New York, NY Opening Song Total Praise New Birth Total Praise Choir Composed by Minister Byron Cage, Director Richard Smallwood Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Choir Dr. David Morrow, Director The Holy Scriptures Old Testament Psalms 139: 1-10 Reverend Vernon C. King Pastor, First Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC New Testament Romans 8:28-39 Elder DeLeice Drane New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Musical Tribute The Lords Prayer Sister Miriam Fawaz New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Accompanied by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Official Tributes The Honorable George W. Bush President of United States & Mrs.Laura Bush The Honorable Sonny Purdue Governor, State of Georgia The Honorable Shirley Franklin Mayor, City of Atlanta Mrs. Zanele M. Mbeki First Lady, Republic of South Africa Officiating Bishop Eddie L. Long Senior Pastor New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Lithonia, GA Order of Service Musical Tribute Vissi dArte, Vissi dAmore Ms. Juandalynn R. Abernathy, Soprano from Tosca, G. Puccini Dr. Joyce Johnson, Accompanist Civil and Human Dr. Dorothy I. Height Rights Tributes Chairman of the Board National Council of Negro Women Washington, DC Ms. Sherry Frank Executive Director American Jewish Committee, Atlanta Chapter Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery President Emeritus Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Musical Tribute Aint Got Time To Die Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Choir Arranged by Dr. David Morrow, Director Hall Johnson Special Tributes The Honorable James Earle Carter 39th President, United States of America The Honorable George H.W. Bush 41st President, United States of America & Mrs.Barbara Bush The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton 42nd President, United States of America The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton Senator, United States Senate Video Presentation Friends and Family Tributes Mrs. Patricia C. Latimore Personal Assistant to Mrs. King Ms. Shabazz Mr. Jesse Hill, Jr. Chairman Emeritus, The King Center Board Ms. Carole F. Hoover, Family Friend The King Center Tributes Judge William S. Sessions Former Member King Federal Holiday Commission Mr. Billy Mason Student, Summer Workshop on Nonviolence Mr. Charles Rachael Former Member, The Crips Order of Service Special Musical Tribute Psalms 23 Jeff Majors and Born Again Dancers of New Birth Friends and Family Tributes Mrs. Edythe Scott Bagley, Sister (continued) Professor (Ret.), Cheney University Mrs. Christine King Farris, Sister-in-Law Mrs. Naomi Barber King, Sister-in-Law Mrs. Christine Osburn Jackson, Cousin Ms. Edith Savage Jennings, Family Friend Bishop T. D. Jakes Senior Pastor, The Potters House Dallas, TX Musical Tribute Courage Mr. Michael Bolton Performing Artist Special Acknowledgements Clergy Tributes Reverend Dr. Joseph L. Roberts, Jr. Pastor Emeritus, Ebenezer Baptist Church Reverend Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. Pastor, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church Cleveland, OH Father Michael Pfleger Pastor, St. Sabina Catholic Church, Chicago, IL Musical Tribute Stand Mr. Bebe Winans Written by Performing Artist Donnie McClurkin Special Tributes The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy (continued) Senator, United States Senate The Honorable John Conyers Representative United States House of Representatives Musical Tribute His Eye is on the Sparrow Mr. Stevie Wonder Performing Artist Personal Tributes Dr. Maya Angelou Author, Poet,Activist The Honorable Andrew Young Chairman, GoodWorks International, LLC Order of Service Song of Preparation Mrs. CeCe Winans Performing Artist Eulogy Elder Bernice A. King New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Closing Selection Minister Byron Cage New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Benediction Dr. Robert Schuller Founder and Pastor Emeritus The Crystal Cathedral, Garden Grove, CA Recessional Hallelujah from Messiah Combined Choirs George Frederic Handel Atlanta Symphony Orchestra J. Berry Orchestra of Dekalb County Order of Service Private Internment The King Family requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to Anitoch College Coretta Scott King Scholarship Fund, 795 Livermore Street, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. Excerpt from Edythe Scott Bagleys introduction of Coretta Scott King at the King Centers 25th Anniversary Commemorative Service. On this 25th Anniversary of the founding of the King Center, in presenting my sister Corretta Scott King, I have chosen not to chronicle her achievements in the traditional sense. Certainly the majority of you in this audience already know many of them. We all know that she has been the driving force behind what the King Center has become and what the Federal Holiday Commission has achieved as a great spiritual festival. My objective is to try to stimulate you to think about the event which we have been celebrating for the past ten days in terms of what the King Center is, why it came into being, and where it should lead us as the human race continues to evolve towards greater heights of spirituality. Many of you are probably familiar with Richard Bachs allegorical book entitled Jonathan Livingston Seagull. In searching for fresh ways to present the meaning and purpose of the Center, I got caught up once more in this piece of writing. The book is about freedom and perfection as these terms apply to high achievers. In many ways, its protagonist, a seagull, reminds me of Coretta and Martin. The seagulls consuming passion is for freedom and perfectionnot only for himself, but for all seagulls. At one pointe in this piece, Jonathans three most outstanding qualities are named: he is special, he is gifted, and he is divine. These qualities enabled him to accomplish more than his fellow birds. By being special, gifted, and striving to follow the divine side of his nature, Jonathan becomes an extraordinary leader and teacher. But in time, this fact creates problems for him. He is misunderstood; some of the time he is called a devil, other times, a god. But Jonathan never gives up. He continues to work tirelessly and unrelentingly to overcome his own limitations in achieving freedom and perfection and to teach other gulls to deal with theirs. This meant, among other things, changing their level of consciousness. Jonathan strives to see the good in everyone of his fellow gullsand to help them see it in themselves. Jonathan says, it all boils down to learning to love. This is what Coretta Scott Kings life and the mission of the King Center are all aboutLove in Action.

February 7, 2006 As mayor of the City of Atlanta and on behalf of the people of Atlanta, I offer heartfelt condolences to Yolanda, Martin, Dexter, Bernice and the entire King family on the loss of our sister, Coretta Scott King. We will miss her quiet, courageous activism and strength but her legacy and contributions to human rights and social change are timeless. A woman whose faith allowed her to stand for what was just and right, she spoke out against war in the name of peace; she cried out against discrimination in the name of equality and she changed the world in the name of freedom. Coretta Scott King once said, I learned that when you are willing to make sacrifices for a great cause, you will never be alone, because you will have divine companionship and the support of good people. This same faith and cosmic companionship sustained me after my husband was assassinated, and gave me the strength to make my contribution to carrying forward his unfinished work. On behalf of the people of Atlanta, while we mourn with you now, we know that you will find peace in the memory of her lifetime commitment and contributions to carrying out Dr. Kings unfinished work. (The Scotts first child, Eunice, died at the age of four.) Mrs. Scott said that her children would go to college even if she had only one dress to wear and she frequently admonished her children to get an education and try to be somebody. Then you wont have to be kicked around by anybody. If you want clothes and other material things, get an education first, and if you still want these things, you can have them. Coretta grew up in Mount Tabor A. M. E. Zion Church where both her parents served in multiple capacities. Her father was Chairman of the Trustee Board and succeeded his own father as the preachers steward. Her mother served as deaconess, stewardess, and pianist for the choir in which Coretta often sang solos. Coretta, as did Edythe and Obie Leonard, had a good singing voice and learned to love and appreciate music at an early age. Coretta began working for a white cotton farmer at the age of ten. She dug long rows, making sure the width of a hoe was between each stalk. When the puffs were ready, she worked as a cotton picker, making from four to five dollars a season. She once picked 200 pounds of cotton a day earning an astonishing seven dollars. She learned in the cotton fields not only to endure tough situations, but also to overcome them. She was known to consistently pick more cotton than her male cousins. By the time she was fifteen, Coretta was director of the youth choirs. Her favorite past time after a day of hard work in the fields was winding the Victrola while the family sang and singing while her mother played piano. Her talent for music was fed by the unusually large collection of records the Scotts owned which included spirituals, gospel, jazz and blues. For Coretta, Lincoln High School opened new worlds of thought. She developed a compelling drive to be somebody and to serve God. She sensed her service would come through music and began working on developing her musical talent. She played the trumpet and piano and sang in the chorus, appearing as soloist in recitals and musical productions while studying voice with a teacher. Coretta got a chance to leave the segregated south when she won a scholarship to join her sister as one of the few black students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She joined the colleges NAACP Chapter and Race Relations and Civil Liberties Committee. She first majored in Early Childhood Education but was inspired to change her plans after she sang on a program with Paul Robeson at an NAACP event. He encouraged her to study voice full-time and she dreamed of having a career like his that combined music performance with social activism. Prior to completing her studies at Antioch in 1951, Coretta was advised by the head of the music department to apply for admission to Bostons New England Conservatory of Music and to the Smith Noyes Foundation for a fellowship. She was accepted at the Conservatory and her plan was to specialize in voice while getting a music degree. Coretta arranged for lodging and breakfast by cleaning the floor on which she lived. Sometimes, her dinner consisted of graham crackers, peanut

his family despite the dangers. Coretta often heard her father say to her mother, I may not be back. Mrs. Scott was a strong and righteous woman who taught Coretta the values of honesty, truth, compassion, perseverance and the importance of keeping a spiritual focus. With the help of her children, she gardened, fed the hogs and chickens, and milked and fed the cows while Mr. Scott worked away from home. Later, she worked along side her husband in the grocery store. When Coretta entered school, she joined other community children in walking over four miles to Crossroads School. She would soon realize the unfairness of white children riding to their wellbuilt brick school while African American children walked. She committed herself to getting an education so that she could use it her education as an instrument to change conditions. After completing the sixth grade at Crossroads, Coretta joined her sister at the Lincoln High School in Marion, Alabama. The Scotts paid four dollars and fifty cents in tuition for each child as well as room and board for their children to live with a family during the week. White children were bussed to Marion High School daily. In Corettas junior year, the county allotted some funds for transportation for African-American students and Mr. Scott converted an old truck into a bus that Mrs. Scott drove a total of forty miles each day. Despite their limited schooling, her parents placed a high value on education and made enormous sacrifices to ensure that Coretta, her older sister, Edythe, and brother, Obie Leonard received the best possible education. ignity, elegance, courage, faith-filled and strength are all words that describe Coretta Scott Kinga peace activist and civil rights leader. She was wife and partner of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and First Lady of the civil rights movement. She stood by Dr. Kings side through thick and thin and fought tirelessly to keep his legacy alive. On January 30, 2006, Coretta Scott King rejoined Dr. King as she transitioned to her eternal reward. Coretta Scott King was born in Heiberger, Alabama on April 27, 1927, the third of four children to Bernice McMurray and Obadiah Obie Scott. She inherited a rich legacy of faith, family, character, music, leadership and entrepreneurship. She was named for her grandmother Cora, a woman of unusual strength and drive. Although Coretta never knew her grandmother, she was often told that she was much like her. Her father, maternal grandmother, and slave-born maternal grandfather all grew and sold produce in the community. Corettas mother and maternal grandmother were seamstresses. One of her deepest regrets was never having known her grandma Cora. Corettas father had a keen business sense and unflagging work ethic that put him in competition with white businessmen. He combined chicken farming and hauling lumber as a business. He was the first colored man in the county to own a truck and later a sawmill; and, in 1946, he opened a grocery store on his own property. As a result of his entrepreneurial endeavors, he was often stopped and threatened by white men on the road at night. In spite of this, he was determined to make a way for IN REMEMBRANCE OF D butter and fruit. She was determined not to write home for money. After college graduation, Coretta moved to Boston to attend the New England Conservatory of Music and fulfill her dream of becoming a classical concert singer. One day in 1952, she was introduced to a man named Martin Luther King, Jr. who was a preacher pursuing his Ph.D. at Boston University. Two destinies linked that would later converge to change a nationbut Coretta did not know it at the time. She knew her calling in life was to make a difference in the world by working to change conditions for blacks in the south. She was certain her contribution would be through music, not ministry. As Coretta and Martin became more acquainted with one another, they discovered that they shared similar concerns about the plight of their people. The more time she spent with him, she began to sense just how different he was. Coretta was always a champion of hope, dignity and freedom. Even before she met Martin, she was involved in the peace movement and because of this, she was the first to convince him to speak out against the Vietnam War. She has always had a keen sense of history and she believed and frequently quoted Horace Manns admonition: Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity. On June 18, 1953, Coretta and Martin married and in September, took up residence in Montgomery, Alabama, where Coretta Scott King began to assume the many functions of the pastors wife at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Coretta Scott King entered the world stage in 1955 as wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Prepared by her family, education, and personal commitment for a life dedicated to social justice and peace, she played an important leadership role in the American Civil Rights Movement. Her remarkable partnership with Dr. King also produced four children and a family devoted to social justice and nonviolent social change. During Dr. Kings career, Mrs. King focused on raising their children: Yolanda Denise (b. 1955), Martin Luther III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott (b. 1961), and Bernice Albertine (b.1963), balancing her time between mothering and movement work, speaking engagements before church, civic, college, fraternal and peace groups. To help raise funds for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the nonviolent direct action organization for which Dr. King served as first president, she conceived and performed a series of favorablyreviewed Freedom Concerts which combined prose IN REMEMBRANCE OF and poetry narration with musical selections. In 1957, she and Dr. King journeyed to Ghana to mark that countrys independence. Dr. and Mrs. King spent nearly a month in India in 1959 on a pilgrimage to visit sites associated with Mahatma Ghandi, and to meet with his disciples. In 1964, she accompanied Dr. King to Oslo, Norway, where he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Even prior to her husbands first public statement against the Vietnam War in 1967, Mrs. King functioned as liaison to peace and justice organizations and as an advocate for the unheard and disadvantaged in the councils of public officials. After her husbands assassination in 1968, instead of retreating with her young children into her grief, Coretta Scott King stepped out into the forefront to continue her husbands legacy. She began this the day before his funeral, leading the sanitation workers march he had gone to Memphis to support. She continued to stand up for social justice for the rest of her life. Mrs. King was devoted to preserving Dr. Kings legacy by committing much of her energy and attention to developing an building the Atlanta-based Mar