| Revision as of 19:50, 19 February 2010 view source173.11.172.185 (talk) →Childhood and education← Previous edit | Revision as of 19:50, 19 February 2010 view source 173.11.172.185 (talk) ←Replaced content with '{{Infobox Person |name = Coretta Scott King |image = Coretta_scott_king_cropped.jpg |caption = Speaking in Nigeria in 2003, age 75. |occupati...'Next edit → | ||
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| |name = Coretta Scott King | |name = Coretta Scott King | ||
| |image = Coretta_scott_king_cropped.jpg | |image = Coretta_scott_king_cropped.jpg | ||
| |image_size = 128px | |||
| |caption = Speaking in Nigeria in 2003, age 75. | |caption = Speaking in Nigeria in 2003, age 75. | ||
| |occupation = ], ], ], ] ], ] | |occupation = [[Civil and political rights|Civil uu | ||
| |dead = dead | |dead = dead | ||
| |birth_date = {{birth date|1927|4|27|mf=y}} | |||
| |birth_place = ], ], ]<ref name=Gale/> | |||
| |death_date = {{death date and age|2006|01|30|1927|4|27|mf=y}} | |||
| |death_place = ], ] | |||
| |spouse = ] | |||
| |children =] (deceased)<br />]<br />]<br />] | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Coretta Scott King''' (April 27, 1927{{ndash}} January 30, 2006) was an ] ], ], and ] leader. The widow of ], Coretta Scott King helped lead the ] in the 1960s. | |||
| Mrs. King's most prominent role may have been in the years after her ] when she took on the leadership of the struggle for racial equality herself and became active in the ]. | |||
| == Childhood and were not particularly wealthy. During the ] the Scott children picked cotton to help earn money.<ref name="Gale">{{cite web |title=Coretta Scott King |work=Women's History |publisher=Gale Virtual Reference Library |url=http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/whm/bio/king_c_s.htm}}</ref> Obie was the first black in their neighborhood to own a truck. He had a barber shop in their home. He also owned a ], which was burned down by white neighbors. | |||
| == Family life == | |||
| ] | |||
| Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King, Jr., were married on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her mother's house; the ceremony was performed by Martin Jr.'s father, ]. After completing her degree in voice and violin at the New England Conservatory, she moved with her husband to ], ] in September 1954. | |||
| The Kings had four children: | |||
| *] (November 17, 1955{{ndash}}May 15, 2007) | |||
| *] ( October 23, 1957 in Montgomery, Alabama) | |||
| *] ( January 30, 1961 in ] ]) | |||
| *] ( March 28, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia) | |||
| All four children later followed in their parents' footsteps as civil rights activists. | |||
| == Civil rights movement == | |||
| ] of ] hands Correta Scott King a promotional "squeaky pickle" at a campaign rally in ], 1976.]] | |||
| Coretta Scott King played an extremely important role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Martin wrote of her that, "I am indebted to my wife Coretta, without whose love, sacrifices, and loyalty neither life nor work would bring fulfillment. She has given me words of consolation when I needed them and a well-ordered home where Christian love is a reality." However, Martin and Coretta did conflict over her public role in the movement. Martin wanted Coretta to focus on raising their four children, while Coretta wanted to take a more public leadership role. | |||
| Coretta Scott King took part in the ] of 1955 and took an active role in advocating for civil rights legislation. Most prominently, perhaps, she worked hard to pass the ]. | |||
| Not long after her husband's assassination in 1968, Coretta approached the ] entertainer and activist Josephine Baker to take her husband's place as leader of The Civil Rights Movement. After many days of thinking it over Baker declined, stating that her twelve adopted children (known as the "rainbow tribe") were " ... too young to lose their mother."<ref>Josephine Baker and Joe Bouillon, ''Josephine''. Harper & Row Publishers, New York, 1977</ref> Shortly after that Coretta decided to take the helm of the movement herself. | |||
| Scott King broadened her focus to include ], ], economic issues, world peace, and various other causes. As early as December 1968, she called for women to "unite and form a solid block of women power to fight the three great evils of ], poverty and war," during a Solidarity Day speech.<ref name="NAPF">{{cite web |last=Pappas |first=Heather |title=Coretta Scott King |publisher=Nuclear Age Peace Foundation |url=http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/programs/youth-outreach/peace-heroes/king-coretta.htm |accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> | |||
| As leader of the movement, Scott King founded the ] in Atlanta. She served as the center's ] and ] from its inception until she passed the reins of leadership to son Dexter Scott King. | |||
| She published her memoirs, ''My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr.'', in 1969. | |||
| Coretta Scott King was also under surveillance by the ] from 1968 until 1972. Her husband's activities had been monitored during his lifetime. Documents obtained by a ], ] television station show that the FBI worried that Scott King would "tie the ] to the civil rights movement."<ref name="LATimesSep">{{cite news |title=FBI spied on Coretta Scott King, files show |publisher=The ] |date=August 31, 2007 |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-king31aug31,1,1018428.story?ctrack=1&cset=true |accessdate=2007-09-11}}</ref> A spokesman for the King family said that they were aware of the surveillance, but had not realized how extensive it was. | |||
| == Later life == | |||
| ], ], ], and other civil rights leaders during a visit to Ebenezer Baptist Church in ], January 14, 1979.]] | |||
| Every year after the assassination of her husband in 1968, Coretta attended a commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to mark his birthday on January 15. She fought for years to make it a national holiday. Murray M. Silver, an Atlanta attorney, made the appeal at the services on January 14, 1979. Coretta Scott King later confirmed that it was the "...best, most productive appeal ever..." Scott King was finally successful in this in 1986, when ] was made a ]. | |||
| Coretta Scott King attended the ] of ] in 1973, as a very close friend of the former ], himself a contributor to civil rights. | |||
| When President Ronald Reagan signed legislation establishing Martin Luther King Day, she was at the event. | |||
| === Opposition to apartheid === | |||
| During the 1980s, Scott King reaffirmed her long-standing opposition to ], participating in a series of sit-in protests in ] that prompted nationwide demonstrations against ]. | |||
| In 1986, she traveled to ] and met with ], while Mandela's husband ] was still a ] on ]. She declined invitations from ] and moderate ] chief ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Coretta Scott King |publisher=] |date=January 31, 2006 |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2006/02/01/db0101.xml |accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> Upon her return to the United States, she urged Reagan to approve ] against South Africa. | |||
| === Peace and other political positions === | |||
| {{Unreferenced|article's section called "Peace and other political positions"|date=March 2009}} | |||
| A long-time advocate for ], in 1957, Scott King was one of the founders of The Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (now called ]). | |||
| Scott King was vocal in her opposition to ] and the ], thus drawing criticism from ] groups. She was also an advocate of ], ] and ]/] prevention. | |||
| === LGBT equality === | |||
| ].]] | |||
| On April 1, 1998 at the ] ] in ], Scott King called on the civil rights community to join in the struggle against ] and anti-gay bias. "Homophobia is like racism and ] and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood", she stated. "This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next ]." | |||
| In a speech in November 2003 at the opening session of the 13th annual ], organized by the ], Scott King made her now famous appeal linking the Civil Rights Movement to the ] agenda: "I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people. ... But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people." | |||
| Scott King's support of LGBT rights was strongly criticized by some black pastors. She called her critics "misinformed" and said that Martin Luther King's message to the world was one of equality and inclusion. | |||
| In 2003, she invited the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to take part in observances of the 40th anniversary of the ] and Martin Luther King's '']'' speech. It was the first time that an LGBT rights group had been invited to a major event of the African American community. | |||
| On March 23, 2004, she told an audience at ] in ], that ] is a civil rights issue. She denounced a proposed amendment advanced by President ] to the ] that would ban equal marriage rights for ]. In her speech King also criticized a group of black pastors in her home state of Georgia for backing a bill to amend that state's constitution to block gay and lesbian couples from marrying. Scott King is quoted as saying "Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union. A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of ] and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriage." | |||
| === The King Center === | |||
| Established in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, The King Center is the official memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy and ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of a nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace. She handed the reins as CEO and president of the King Center down to her son, Dexter Scott King, who still runs the center today.<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome |publisher=The King Center |date=n/a |url=http://www.thekingcenter.org/tkc/index.asp |accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> | |||
| == Final days == | |||
| ] | |||
| By the end of her 77th year, Coretta began experiencing health problems. Her husband's former secretary, , assisted her part time in this period.<ref>Dewan, Shaila. ''New York Times.'' January 15, 2007.</ref> Hospitalized in April 2005, a month after speaking in Selma at the 40th anniversary of the ],she was diagnosed with a heart condition and was discharged on her 78th and final birthday. Later, she suffered several small strokes. On August 16 2005, she was hospitalized after suffering a ] and a mild ]. Initially, she was unable to speak or move her right side. She was released from ] in Atlanta on September 22, 2005, after regaining some of her speech and continued ] at home. Due to continuing health problems, Scott King cancelled a number of speaking and traveling engagements throughout the remainder of 2005. On January 14, 2006, Coretta made her last public appearance in Atlanta at a dinner honoring her husband's memory. | |||
| === Death === | |||
| Coretta Scott King, aged 78, died in the late evening of January 30, 2006<ref name="APobit">{{cite news |title=Coretta Scott King dead at 78 |publisher=The ] |date=January 31, 2006 |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11110291/ |accessdate=2007-09-11}}</ref> at a rehabilitation center in ], ], where she was undergoing ] therapy for her stroke and advanced stage ]. The main cause of her death however, is believed to be ] failure due to complications from ovarian cancer.<ref name="APcancer">{{cite news |title=King had Paralysis and Cancer |work= |pages= |language= |publisher=The ] |date=January 31, 2006 |url=http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=75455 |accessdate=2007-09-11}}</ref> The clinic at which she died was called the Hospital Santa Monica, but was licensed as Clinica Santo Tomas. Newspaper reports indicated that it was not legally licensed to "perform surgery, take X-rays, perform laboratory work or run an internal pharmacy, all of which it was doing." It was also founded, owned, and operated by ] resident, and highly controversial ] figure, ].<ref>{{cite news |title=Clinic, founder operate outside norm |publisher=The ] |date=February 1, 2006 |url= |accessdate=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Barrett |first=Stephen |title=The Shady Activities of Kurt Donbach |publisher=Quackwatch |date=last revised September 10, 2007 |url=http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/donsbach.html |accessdate=2007-09-11}}</ref> Days after Mrs. King's death, the ], ] state medical commissioner, Dr. Francisco Vera, shut down the clinic.<ref>{{cite news |last=McKinley |first=James C. |title=Mexico Closes Alternative Care Clinic Where Mrs. King Died |publisher=The ] |date=February 4, 2006 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/international/americas/04mexico.html?ex=1189656000&en=39df23f0fc555dd8&ei=5070 |accessdate=2007-09-11}}</ref> | |||
| ===Funeral=== | |||
| Over 14,000 people gathered for Coretta Scott King's eight-hour funeral at the ] in ], Georgia on February 7, 2006 where daughter Bernice King, who is an ] at the church, eulogized her mother. The ], whose sanctuary seats 10,000, was better able to handle the expected massive crowds than Ebenezer Baptist Church, of which Coretta was a member since the early 1960s and which was the site of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s funeral in 1968. | |||
| U.S. Presidents ], ], ], ], and their wives attended, excepting the ] family, which was absent due to illness, and ], who had a previous engagement. Numerous other prominent political and civil rights leaders, including then-U.S. senator ],<ref></ref> attended the televised service. | |||
| Mrs King was interred in a temporary ] on the grounds of the King Center until a permanent place next to her husband's remains could be built.<ref></ref> She had expressed to family members and others that she wanted her remains to lie next to her husband's at the King Center. On November 20, 2006 the new mausoleum containing both the bodies of Dr. and Mrs King was unveiled in front of friends and family. It is the third resting place of Martin Luther King. Coretta Scott King died on son Dexter's birthday. | |||
| === Funeral oration === | |||
| President ] and Rev. ] provided funeral orations. With President George W. Bush seated a few feet away, Rev. Lowery, referencing Coretta's vocal opposition to the ], noted the failure to find ] in Iraq. President Carter, referencing Coretta's lifelong struggle for civil rights, noted that her family had been the target of ]. Their somewhat controversial comments were met with thunderous applause and ]s.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} | |||
| == Recognition and tributes == | |||
| Coretta Scott King was the recipient of various honors and tributes both before and after her death. She received honorary degrees from many institutions, including ], ], and ]. She was honored by both of her alma maters in 2004, receiving a Horace Mann Award from Antioch College<ref name=King2004/> and an Outstanding Alumni Award from the New England Conservatory of Music.<ref name="NEC">{{cite web |title=Alumni Profile: Coretta Scott King '54, '71 hon. D.M. |publisher=] |date=n/a |url=http://www.newenglandconservatory.edu/alumni/alumni_profiles/profiles/king.htm |accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> | |||
| In 1970, the ] began awarding a medal named for Coretta Scott King to outstanding African American writers and illustrators of ].<ref name="ALA">{{cite web |title=The Coretta Scott King Book Awards for Authors and Illustrators |publisher=American Library Association |date=n/a |url=http://www.ala.org/ala/emiert/corettascottkingbookaward/abouttheawarda/cskabout.htm |accessdate=2007-09-10 }}</ref> | |||
| Many individuals and organizations paid tribute to Scott King following her death, including U.S. President George W. Bush,<ref name="SU2006">{{cite web |last=Bush |first=George W. |authorlink=George W. Bush |title=State of the Union |publisher=The White House |date=January 31, 2006 |url=http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/stateoftheunion/2006/ |accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> the ],<ref name="NGLTF">{{cite web |title=Task Force mourns death of Coretta Scott King |publisher=National Gay and Lesbian Task Force |date=January 31, 2006 |url=http://www.thetaskforce.org/press/releases/pr917_013106 |accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> the ],<ref name="HRC">{{cite web |title=Coretta Scott King Leaves Behind Legacy of the Everlasting Pursuit of Justice |publisher=Human Rights Campaign |date=January 31, 2006 |url=http://www.hrc.org/issues/1614.htm |accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> the National Black Justice Coalition,<ref name="NBJC">{{cite web |title=Leader Passes Quietly into the Night: Coretta Scott King Dies at 78 |publisher=National Black Justice Coalition |date=January 31, 2006 |url=http://www.nbjcoalition.org/news/coretta-scott-king-retires.html |accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> her alma mater ].<ref name="Antioch">{{cite web |title="We have lost a great American and a great Antiochian....": Coretta Scott King’s death mourned by the Antioch Community |publisher=Antioch College |date=January 31, 2006 |url=http://www.antioch-college.edu/news/releases/index.php?id=114 |accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> | |||
| In 2004, Coretta Scott King was awarded the prestigious ] by the ]. | |||
| In 2007, The ] (CSKYWLA) was opened in Atlanta, Georgia. At its inception, the school served girls in grade 6 with plans for expansion to grade 12 by 2014. CSKYWLA is a public school in the ] system. Among the staff and students, the acronym for the school's name, CSKYWLA (pronounced "see-skee-WAH-lah"), has been coined as a protologism to which this definition has given - "to be empowered by scholarship, non-violence, and social change." The school is currently under the leadership of Melody Morgan (Principal) and April Patton (Dean of Academics). | |||
| === Congressional resolutions === | |||
| Upon the news of her death, moments of reflection, remembrance, and mourning began around the world. In the ], ] ] presented Senate Resolution 362 on behalf of all U.S. Senators, with the afternoon hours filled with respectful tributes throughout the U.S. Capitol. | |||
| On January 31, 2006 following a moment of silence in memoriam to the death of Scott King, the ] presented House Resolution 655 in honor of her legacy. In an unusual action, the resolution included a grace period of five days in which further comments could be added to it. | |||
| == References | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| == External links == | |||
| {{wikiquote}} | |||
| * at The National Visionary Leadership Project | |||
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| * in the ] | |||
| * - slideshow by '']'' | |||
| {{Commons category|Coretta Scott King}} | |||
| {{Template group | |||
| |list = | |||
| {{African-American Civil Rights Movement}} | |||
| {{Martin Luther King |expanded=People}} | |||
| {{Footer Gandhi Peace Prize laureates}} | |||
| }} | |||
| {{Persondata | |||
| |NAME = King, Coretta Scott | |||
| |ALTERNATIVE NAMES = King, Coretta; Scott, Coretta | |||
| |SHORT DESCRIPTION = civil rights figure | |||
| |DATE OF BIRTH = April 27, 1927 | |||
| |PLACE OF BIRTH = near ], ] | |||
| |DATE OF DEATH = January 30, 2006 | |||
| |PLACE OF DEATH = ], ] | |||
| }} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Coretta Scott}} | |||
| {{African-American Civil Rights Movement}} | |||
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Revision as of 19:50, 19 February 2010
{{Infobox Person |name = Coretta Scott King |image = Coretta_scott_king_cropped.jpg
|caption = Speaking in Nigeria in 2003, age 75. |occupation = [[Civil and political rights|Civil uu |dead = dead