Coretta Scott King: More Than Martin's Widow

Feb. 7, 2006 — -- As the nation says goodbye to Coretta Scott King today, admirers will remember her as more than the widow of a civil rights icon. She will be remembered as an activist who not only carried on her husband's legacy but forged her own legacy of peace, tolerance and understanding.

"With Coretta Scott King, you run into the wife-widow problem," said William Jelani Cobb, professor of history at Spelman College in Atlanta. "Yes, she was Martin Luther King's widow, but it tends to obscure the activism she had. She held freedom concerts to raise money for the civil rights movement before Martin was even in the picture. She was involved in an array of arenas for the betterment of our society."

Martin talked about the three factors [threatening society]: race, poverty and war. But Coretta added the oppression of women. She fought not only for civil rights but for the rights of women. She also chided the black community for ignoring problem of HIV/AIDS. She was at the forefront of many different issues."

King died Jan. 30 at age 78 from pneumonia, which resulted from complications due to ovarian cancer. Her four children were shocked by her death and thought that she was making steps toward recovery from cancer at an alternative medical clinic in Mexico. Though she was diagnosed in November, an autopsy showed she suffered from the disease for a year and a half. King also suffered a stroke and heart attack last year.

As the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., she was considered the first lady of the civil rights movement and took up his cause after he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968. King spoke out on every issue, from gay rights to gender equality. She and three of her children were arrested at the South African embassy in Washington for protesting apartheid in 1985.

"I would have to say that her legacy was a legacy of love and coalition bridge building," said the Rev. Martin Luther King III. "She taught us as children how to love, but also how to forgive. … And also creating a consciousness so that other countries in the world … and the final thing is the whole concept of nonviolence. In fact, our father often said our mother taught him in terms of being involved in the peace movement because she was involved even before they met."

Two Legacies Intertwined

Coretta Scott King founded the King Center in 1968 as a living memorial to her husband and his belief in attaining social justice through nonviolence. The center, located in Atlanta, features exhibits that illustrate his life and philosophy.

Bernice King, who was with her mother in her final days, said her parents' individual legacies were forever linked. She will eulogize her mother at her funeral today.

"I often say there could not have been a Coretta Scott King without a Martin King, but there would not have been a Martin King of the magnitude that we now have come to embrace him as a world if it had not been for Coretta Scott King," said Bernice King, a minister at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

King's children also say they are thankful they spent as much time as they did with their mother, especially since their father was killed when they were all very young.

"Our mother taught us unconditional love by being that herself," said Yolanda King, an actress and motivational speaker. "We are so grateful for the time we had with her. We are so thankful that she did not have to suffer in her last days and that she is reunited with our father. We miss her terribly and always will. We didn't have our father long, but thank God we had her for as long as we did."

The King family said they were deeply comforted and amazed by the outpouring of support and sympathy they had received.

"Where we've been, even when we were bringing her [Coretta Scott King] back into this country [after her death] and wherever we were, she just received the greatest of condolences, outpouring of well wishes, just the response is overwhelming," said Dexter Scott King, a writer and filmmaker. "We're still trying to process it all because it has been so overwhelming."

"We all felt the prayers, outpouring of love and well wishes, and we just continue to solicit the prayers as we go through the process of grieving and not just any loved one but a mother," Bernice King said. "And everybody knows how difficult that can be."

Dignitaries, Thousands Expected at Funeral

Up to 10,000 were expected at King's funeral today. President Bush, and former presidents Clinton and Carter led the list of dignitaries and civil rights leaders attending services.

Over the weekend, approximately 42,000 mourners filed past King's open casket at the Rotunda in the state Capitol in Atlanta. King is the first woman and the first black person to lie in honor there. Then-Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox, an outspoken segregationist, refused to give her husband that honor after his slaying.

With the death of Rosa Parks late last year, Coretta Scott King's passing seems to further mark the end of an era that seemed ended officially with Martin Luther King's death. But William Jelani Cobb doesn't see her death as the end but a wake-up call."

"The civil rights movement ended with the passage of the Civil Rights Act [which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin]," he said. "People pass and move on but I see it as a reminder that there is still work to be done and a need for people to carry on where she left off."

ABCNEWS.com's Bryan Robinson contributed to this report.