Coretta King: Lawbreaker Or Law-Abiding Citizen?

Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. She was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his assassination in 1968. She played a prominent role in the civil rights movement, both during and after her husband's lifetime. In addition to advocating for African-American equality, she also broadened her scope to include LGBTQ rights and opposition to apartheid.

While there is no evidence of Coretta Scott King breaking any laws, she did spend time in jail. In 1985, she and three of her children were arrested at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C., for protesting against the country's apartheid system.

Coretta Scott King died on January 30, 2006, from respiratory failure due to complications from ovarian cancer.

Coretta Scott King's activism

Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. She was also the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his assassination in 1968.

Coretta Scott King was born in Heiberger, Alabama, in 1927. She was raised on her parents' farm and was exposed to the injustices of life in a segregated society from an early age. She attended a one-room elementary school five miles from her home and later enrolled at Lincoln Normal School, the closest black high school. She graduated as valedictorian in 1945 and received a scholarship to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

During her time at Antioch, Scott King became politically active, joining the Antioch chapter of the NAACP and the college's Race Relations and Civil Liberties Committees. She also studied music and graduated with a degree in music and education. She then received a scholarship to study concert singing at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where she met Martin Luther King Jr.

Scott King and her husband became increasingly active in the American civil rights movement. In 1954, they moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where Martin Luther King Jr. had accepted a position as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The couple soon became caught up in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which challenged segregation on the city's bus lines. Scott King supported her husband and the cause, performing important tasks such as caring for children, managing correspondence, and answering phones. She also used her musical talents to raise money for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference through "Freedom Concerts."

Following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968, Scott King continued her activism, taking on a prominent role in the struggle for racial equality and becoming active in the Women's Movement. She founded the King Center and successfully campaigned to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national holiday. She broadened her activism to include LGBTQ+ rights, anti-apartheid efforts, and opposition to the Vietnam War. Scott King also advocated for world peace, economic justice, and an end to capital punishment.

Throughout her life, Coretta Scott King was a dedicated and courageous activist, standing against racism, war, and injustice. She worked tirelessly to advance civil rights, equality, and social change, leaving a lasting legacy in the fight for justice.

Her role in the civil rights movement

Coretta Scott King was an influential civil rights activist and a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. She was married to Martin Luther King Jr., whom she met while they were both attending university in Boston. They married in 1953 and moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where they became increasingly active in the Civil Rights Movement.

Coretta Scott King played an active role in advocating for civil rights legislation. She took part in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, efforts to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. She also conceived and performed a series of critically acclaimed Freedom Concerts as fundraisers for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference throughout the 1960s. These concerts combined poetry, narration, and music to tell the story of the Civil Rights Movement.

In addition to her activism, Coretta Scott King raised four children: Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice. She balanced motherhood and movement work, with the family home often serving as a center of activity for church and movement work. She participated in strategy meetings and provided feedback and encouragement to her husband as he prepared for his sermons and speeches.

Coretta Scott King also travelled extensively, both domestically and internationally, to speak out on behalf of racial and economic justice, women's and children's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, religious freedom, gun control, the needs of the poor and homeless, full employment, health care, educational opportunities, nuclear disarmament, and environmental justice.

Following the assassination of her husband in 1968, Coretta Scott King founded the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. She served as the center's president and CEO for many years, during which time she successfully campaigned to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday.

Her life before Martin Luther King Jr

Coretta Scott King was born on April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, Alabama, and grew up on her parents' farm in Perry County, Alabama. Her parents, Bernice and Obadiah Scott, ensured that she and her three siblings received the best education possible. From a young age, Coretta experienced the injustices of living in a segregated society. She attended a one-room elementary school five miles from her home and later was bused to Lincoln High School, a private school for black students, nine miles away. She excelled in her studies, particularly music, and was valedictorian of her graduating class.

Coretta went on to receive a partial scholarship to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where she studied voice and music education. She was politically active during her time at Antioch, joining the Antioch chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the college's Race Relations and Civil Liberties Committees. She also insisted on doing her student teaching at the local Yellow Springs Public Schools, despite resistance from school officials and classmates who wanted her to teach at a different school.

After graduating from Antioch, Coretta won a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where she studied singing. It was there that she met Martin Luther King Jr., a theology student at Boston University. Their first date was on the steps of the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, and they soon began attending concerts and recitals together. Coretta made clear to Martin that she wanted to continue her music career and play a role in the growing civil rights movement.

Coretta and Martin were married on June 18, 1953, at the Scott family home in Alabama. After the wedding, they returned to Boston to complete their degrees. Coretta earned her bachelor's degree in music in June 1954, and Martin received his Ph.D. in 1955. The couple then moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where Martin had accepted a position as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Coretta became a member of the choir and taught Sunday school. She also continued to pursue her music career, performing in freedom concerts that combined music, poetry, and lectures about the civil rights movement. In 1964, she gave a critically acclaimed performance at Town Hall in New York City, raising funds for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

In addition to her work in the civil rights movement, Coretta was involved in efforts for world peace and disarmament. In 1962, she served as a delegate for the Women Strike for Peace Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, and in 1964, she accompanied Martin to Oslo, Norway, where he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Coretta was also a strong advocate for women's rights and LGBT rights, and she worked to address issues of poverty, economic injustice, and capital punishment.

After Martin's assassination in 1968, Coretta continued to dedicate her life to social justice and non-violent social change. She founded the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta and served as its president and CEO until passing the reins to her son, Dexter, in 1995. She also successfully campaigned to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday, which was first observed in 1986. Coretta Scott King died on January 30, 2006, at the age of 78.

Her husband's assassination

Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. She was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his assassination in 1968.

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee. Coretta Scott King learned of the shooting after a phone call from Jesse Jackson when she returned from shopping with her eldest child, Yolanda.

Coretta had difficulty breaking the news to her children. She received a large number of telegrams, including one from Lee Harvey Oswald's mother, which she regarded as the most touching. She tried to prepare her five-year-old daughter Bernice for the funeral by explaining that her father would be in a casket and would not be speaking. When her son Dexter asked when his father would return, Coretta lied and said he had been badly hurt.

Coretta Scott King received a flood of calls and Senator Robert F. Kennedy offered to transport her to Memphis and install more phone lines in her home. She asked Kennedy if he could persuade Jacqueline Kennedy to attend the funeral with him. Kennedy promised to help in any way he could.

On April 5, Coretta Scott King arrived in Memphis to retrieve her husband's body. She decided that the casket should be kept open during the funeral so that her children would realise their father would not be coming home. She called photographer Bob Fitch, whom she had known for years, to document the funeral.

On April 7, former Vice President Richard Nixon visited Coretta and recalled his first meeting with her husband in 1955. Nixon also attended the funeral on April 9 but did not join the procession.

On April 8, Coretta and her children led a march with sanitation workers – a protest that her husband had planned before his death. She addressed the onlookers at Memphis City Hall, saying that her husband's children knew he loved them, and the time he spent with them was well spent.

Before the funeral, Coretta met with Jacqueline Kennedy, which she found comforting. She and her sister-in-law, Christine King Farris, tried to prepare the children for seeing Martin's body. At the end of the funeral service, Coretta led her children and mourners in a march from the church to Morehouse College, her late husband's alma mater.

Two days after her husband's death, Coretta spoke at Ebenezer Baptist Church, saying that her husband had told their children: "If a man hasn't found something worth dying for, he isn't fit to live." She added that his spirit would never die.

Coretta soon took her husband's place at a peace rally in New York City, using notes he had written before his death. She approached the African-American entertainer and activist Josephine Baker to take her husband's place in the Civil Rights Movement, but Baker declined, citing her young children.

Coretta Scott King broadened her focus to include women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, economic issues, world peace, and other causes.

Her legacy

Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. She was also a singer who often incorporated music into her civil rights work. She was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his assassination in 1968.

After her husband's death, Coretta took on the leadership of the struggle for racial equality and became active in the Women's Movement. She founded the King Center and sought to make her husband's birthday a national holiday. She succeeded in this campaign in 1986, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was made a federal holiday.

Coretta broadened her scope to include advocacy for LGBTQ rights and opposition to apartheid. She was also a vocal opponent of capital punishment and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She was under surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1968 until 1972 due to her activism.

Coretta Scott King was a recipient of various honours and tributes, including honorary degrees from Princeton University, Duke University, and Bates College. She was also awarded the Golden Plate Award by the American Academy of Achievement in 1997.

She died on January 30, 2006, from respiratory failure due to complications from ovarian cancer. Her funeral was attended by over 10,000 people, including U.S. presidents and other dignitaries.

Coretta Scott King's legacy is that of a courageous and dedicated civil rights activist who fought for equality, peace, and social justice. She was a powerful voice for change and inspired many with her courage, dignity, and tireless devotion to her causes.

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