Coretta Scott King... will be missed.

[robfharris]

ATLANTA - Coretta Scott King, who turned a life shattered by her husband's assassination into one devoted to enshrining his legacy of human rights and equality, has died. She was 78.


Markel Hutchins, a close family friend of the Kings, told The Associated Press he spoke early this morning with Bernice King, who confirmed her mother's passing.

Former Mayor Andrew Young said on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Web site that Bernice King found her mother at about 1 a.m.

Young, who was a former civil rights activist and was close to the King family, told NBC's "Today" show: "I understand that she was asleep last night and her daughter 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."

Efforts by The Associated Press to reach the family were unsuccessful. They did not immediately return phone calls, but flags at the King Center were lowered to half-staff Tuesday morning.

King suffered a serious stroke and heart attack in 2005.

She was a supportive lieutenant to her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., during the most tumultuous days of the American civil rights movement. She had married him in 1953.

After her husband's assassination in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, she kept his dream alive while also raising their four children.

She worked to keep his ideology of equality for all people at the forefront of the nation's agenda. She goaded and pulled for more than a decade to have her husband's birthday observed as a national holiday, then watched with pride in 1983 as President Reagan signed the bill into law. The first federal holiday was celebrated in 1986.

King became a symbol, in her own right, of her husband's struggle for peace and brotherhood, presiding with a quiet, steady, stoic presence over seminars and conferences on global issues.

"I'm more determined than ever that my husband's dream will become a reality," King said soon after his slaying, a demonstration of the strong will that lay beneath the placid calm and dignity of her character.

She was devoted to her children and considered them her first responsibility. But she also wrote a book, "My Life With Martin Luther King Jr.," and, in 1969, founded the multimillion-dollar Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

King saw to it that the center became deeply involved with the issues she said breed violence — hunger, unemployment, voting rights and racism.

"The center enables us to go out and struggle against the evils in our society," she often said.

After her stroke, King missed the annual King holiday celebration in Atlanta earlier this month, but she did appear with her children at an awards dinner a couple of days earlier, smiling from her wheelchair but not speaking. The crowd gave her a standing ovation.

At the same time, the King Center's board of directors was considering selling the site to the National Park Service to let the family focus less on grounds maintenance and more on King's message. But two of the four children were strongly against such a move.

Coretta Scott was studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music and planning on a singing career when a friend introduced her to Martin Luther King, a young Baptist minister working toward a Ph.D. at Boston University.

"She said she wanted me to meet a very promising young minister from Atlanta," King once said, adding with a laugh, "I wasn't interested in meeting a young minister at that time."

She recalled that on their first date, he told her, "You know, you have everything I ever wanted in a woman. We ought to get married someday." Eighteen months later — June 18, 1953 — they did, in the garden of her parents' home in Marion, Ala.

The couple then moved to Montgomery, Ala., where King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and organized the famed Montgomery bus boycott in 1955. With that campaign, King began enacting his philosophy of direct social action.

The couple's first child, Yolanda Denise, was born that same year. She was followed by Martin III, born in 1957; Dexter Scott, born in 1961; and Bernice Albertine, born in 1963.

Over the years, King was with her husband in his finest hours. She was at his side as he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Sporting flat-heeled shoes, King marched beside her husband from Selma, Ala., into Montgomery in 1965 for the triumphal climax to his drive for a voting rights law.

Trained in music, she sang in many concerts and narrated civil rights history to raise money for the cause.

Only days after his death, she flew to Memphis with three of her children to lead the march of thousands in honor of her slain husband and to plead for his cause. Her unfaltering composure and controlled grief during those days stirred the hearts of millions.

"I think you rise to the occasion in a 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."

She said her life without her husband, though drastically changed, was immensely fulfilling.

"It's a fulfilling life in so many ways, in terms of the children, the nonviolent civil rights cause and in the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial center."

[tamra]

robfharris,

an amazing woman who's led an incredible and fulfilling life. college when education was denied, marrying Dr. King, raising 4 kids, carrying on an extraordinary legacy.

the things she's accomplished on one day alone would be impossible for many in today's society.

and a class act. never heard about her hopping in and out of men's beds for cash to support her kids, never heard about no scandals involving fund raising, no scandals, probes, PERIOD!! and I'm sure the feds tried to find anything on her to tarnish her image.

never saw her raise her voice in public, never heard her cussing anybody out over a self-created nigga moment or from someone being indignant with her during the civil rights movement, including the bombing of her home.

Coretta raised four respectful kids who don't have to worry about gangbanging, drug dealing or being a hoochie to "do what they gotta do to survive".

again, class act all around. an example for today's young and not so young ladies.

on a ridiculously sad note while Sen. Ted Kennedy was positively discussing Coretta, the CNN live newscaster's (Daryn Kagan) response was "well we're going to liven things up a bit around here..." to lead into some nonsense story. what could be as important and remembering Coretta's life?? that statement alone reminded me work is still needed -- either separation from ignorance like this, or removal of it from common eyes!

[tis2flyyy]

robfharris,

Thanks for posting this. You are always on top of these items and I truly appreciate your efforts here.

Astonamous,
So true (on "behind every good man is a...." And the doves was absolutely beautiful.

Tamra,
I agree with you whole heartedly. She NEVER once had an unfavorable thing printed about her, at all. She is my definition of a REAL woman.


To all,
On the Comments made by Sen. Ted Kennedy - all I have to say is we need to ignore this man, but it is difficult in situation such as this. We honor this great woman. It never fails, as it is always a devil trying to throw darts at outstanding and significant african americans.

Further more, we, as WOMEN, ought to pattern ourselves after this great woman. To learn to be dignified, to hold your peace, keep your head held high and always, always looking to the hills from where our help comes.

Dear Coretta,
I did not know you personally, however, you inspired me and so many others so much. Surely your name is written in the Lamb's book of Life and it is sad that you are not here with us any more - you will be missed and will always be remembered. However, it brings great joy to my heart knowing your wonderful husband was waiting to greet you at heaven's gate. God Bless you both and your family forever more.

[Murphdogg]

tis2flyyy, you all said it better that I could.

[JTF]

robfharris,

I was thinking today about what Mrs. King must have personally gone through. We all now know that MLK was a man who had his flaws. Many great men do. It would have been easy for the wife of a man who is not true to leave him, but his public humiliation would have done a great deal of harm to more than just a man...

Thank you Mrs. King, for your strength... A lesser woman could have set the movement back immensely.

[bingolong]

First Rosa Parks now Coretta Scott King....we are losing all the women of civil rights....

[robfharris]

ROSARITO BEACH, Mexico - The Mexican clinic where Coretta Scott King died Tuesday is known for providing alternative treatments to patients with incurable diseases.

King, 78, suffered a serious stroke and heart attack last year. It was not known what kind of treatment she had sought at the Santa Monica Institute in the beach resort of Rosarito, 16 miles south of San Diego.

Family members and clinic employees would not release any information about her treatment.

A casket, draped in a blanket, was loaded into a station wagon and left the beachside clinic with a caravan of four other cars. A city spokesman said the casket carried King's remains and was being accompanied by U.S. consulate officials and relatives.

Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter's House church in Dallas, who said he helped King get to Mexico, said he did not know what kind of treatment she sought. But he said he was not surprised that the "very health-conscious" King "would explore every possible way."

The Santa Monica Health Institute says on its Web site that it uses an eclectic approach to diseases that are often believed to be incurable. While most of the patients have cancer, the clinic says it also treats cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hepatitis C, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.

King's body was being embalmed — a legal requirement in Mexico before it can be returned to the United States — and her death certificate prepared at a Tijuana funeral home so that the remains could be turned over to family members at the border later Tuesday, Carmen Funeral Home director Hector Gonzalez told The Associated Press.

U.S. Embassy officials in Mexico City will work with the King family to ensure that their interaction with Mexican authorities is as smooth as possible — something they do whenever a U.S. citizen dies abroad, said embassy spokeswoman Julia Tully.

___

Associated Press reporter Ioan Grillo contributed to this story from Mexico City.

[dougdigitalpro]

robfharris,
Behind every great man is a great woman. She was the embodiment of this ideal. She walked on after an immense tragedy and lived a full & complete life. She can now walk hand in hand with her husband again and be at peace...eternally.

RIP Mrs. King. We will miss you. Say hi to Mr. P and don't let him crack you up too much. Once you get started with him, you can't stop.

[tis2flyyy]

dougdigitalpro,

That was beautiful!

[robfharris]

I'm going to cry today. I just saw Maya Angelou on CNN discussing Coretta Scott King and I began to ball a little.
Whew...
What's saddest to me is not only are there no national leaders but very few strong local leaders that carried the dream on. A movement has slowly died off or been out right killed.