Heather Little-White, Ph.D., Contributor
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: "A wife can either break or make a husband". Coretta proved to be that type of wife with qualities to make a husband when he could have been so easily broken. In the darkest moments she always brought the light of hope.
-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
CORETTA SCOTT King died just before the start of this year's Black History Month. We celebrate her life as an exemplary wife and a person who has demonstrated the characteristic strengths of a woman. At her funeral service, the peace activist was remembered for her "dignity, elegance and strength".
As the wife of the great civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and 'First Lady' of the civil rights movement, Coretta stood beside her husband through thick and thin and fought tirelessly to keep her husband's legacy alive. Rrising from humble beginnings, Coretta, born 1927 to a mother, who was a seamstress and father, a chicken farmer and lumber hauler, learned values of honesty, truth, compassion, perseverance and spirituality. Her parents placed a high value on education and made sacrifices so that Coretta and her three siblings could receive the best education.
TENACITY
When Coretta entered the working world, she displayed tenacity when she started work from age 10 with a white cotton farmer. She worked hard to dig long rows making sure the width of a hoe was between each stalk. When the cotton puffs were ready, she picked more cotton than her male cousins to earn her four to five dollars a season.
Gifted with a voice for singing she would sing with the family while her mother played the piano. At Lincoln High School, Coretta developed a compelling drive to be somebody and to serve God. She worked at developing her musical ability, playing the trumpet and piano and singing at recitals and musical productions while studying voice.
MODESTY
A fellowship landed her at Boston's New England Conservatory to specialise in voice while getting a music degree. In her modest style, and not wanting to depend on her parents for money, Coretta arranged for lodging and breakfast by cleaning the floor on which she lived. Dinner at times consisted on graham crackers, peanut butter and fruit.
While fulfilling her dream in Boston to become a classical concert singer, she met Martin Luther King, Jr., who was pursuing his doctorate at Boston University. The chemistry between Coretta and Martin was such that they shared similar convictions about improving the lives of their people. Coretta was always a champion of hope, dignity and freedom. Even before she met her husband, she was involved in the peace movement. She was able to convince her husband to speak out against the Vietnam War. Her mantra was "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity".
SOUND MOTHERHOOD
As soon as Coretta married Martin and moved back to Alabama in the Southern United States, she began duties as pastor's wife at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. She supported Martin's civil rights activities, being prepared by her family, education and personal commitment to a life dedicated to social justice and peace. Her civic duties did not deter her from being a good mother in raising her children - Yolanda, Martin Luther III, Dexter and Bernice.
She skilfully balanced her time between mothering, movement work, speaking engagements to church, civic, college, fraternal and peace groups. She accompanied her husband, Martin Luther King. Jr. around the world to spread the message of peace. Her children eulogised her as a mother who was a loving, selfless and devoted daughter, sister, friend and matriarch.
LEGACY CONTINUED
After her husband's assassination in 1968, Coretta did not retreat but assiduously continued her husband's legacy to stand up for social justice for the rest of her life. This led to the establishment of the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King, Jr. Centre for Nonviolent Social Change as a living memorial to her husband's work toward non-violent change. She worked tirelessly to establish Dr. King's birthday as a public holiday celebrated on the third Monday in January.
She continued work as an advocate of interracial movements for non-violent social change. During protests in 1985 against apartheid in South Africa, Coretta and two of her children were arrested in Washington D.C. She has been an influential woman who met with great spiritual leaders around the world and received more than 50 major awards and doctorates from over 40 prestigious universities.
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
A woman, wife and mother who knew unconditional love, Coretta Scott King did not hold grudges but rose above resentment to reconcile with others. This woman of extraordinary courage is aptly described in Proverbs 31: 25-31. "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed, and her husband too...give her the reward she has earned and let her works bring her praise at the city gate..."
- Source: Funeral Programme of Coretta Scot King 'Celebrating Her Spirit'
