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RIP — Coretta Scott King

By immigrationprof

Coretta Scott King, the widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., died Monday night in California, according to a former aide and a public relations firm representing her family. King, 78, suffered a stroke and a mild heart attack last August. She was receiving further medical treatment in California in her rehabilitation. “This is a very sad hour,” U.S. Rep. John Lewis, the Democrat from Georgia, said today.

Here is a heart-felt message to the UC Davis law school community on Coretta King’s passing

January 31, 2006

King Hall Community

I am sad to report that 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, died last night at the age of 78. The widow ofMartin Luther King Jr., she had suffered a stroke and heart attack last August. This is very sad news for the King Hall community. After her husband’s assassination, Coretta Scott King founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. The center became deeply involved in issues of hunger, unemployment, voting rights, and racial discrimination. King was a public figure for decades and, among many positions, was a part of a U.S. delegation to the United Nations when Jimmy Carter was President. She was the recipient of many honors and awards for her commitment to social justice.

Born in 1927 in rural Alabama, Coretta Scott King picked cotton during the Depression to help her family and later worked as a waitress to earn her way through Antioch College. King was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music when a friend introduced her to a young Baptist minister studying at Boston University, Martin Luther King Jr. Coretta Scott King delivered the commencement address to the Class of 1981 and sought to inspire the graduates to continue Dr. King’s nonviolent struggle for social justice. She spoke of the history of the civil rights movement and the need for the law graduates to continue their commitment to change.Despite the sadness of her death, we should celebrate Coretta Scott King’s life and the principles that she, and Martin Luther King Jr., proudly stood for throughout their lives. They taught us by sterling example that, especially in the dark times, struggle and commitment for justice is all-important.

Rex Perschbacher

Dean

KJ