San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Coretta is why we march for Martin
The wife of the man became the mother of his holiday.
Monday marks the 37th observance of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. as a national holiday, and it never would have happened had it not been for Coretta Scott King, who saw it long before anyone else.
“Only a few close friends and religious leaders believed this holiday would ever happen, but I never really doubted,” King wrote in her posthumously published memoir, “My Life, My Legacy, My Love.” “I understand that sometimes a hard task simply requires that one person is particularly chosen to hear the charge, the divine calling, and to step out on faith.
The people, the resources, the strategy will follow. That’s what happened with me and the King holiday.”
Because she stepped out on faith, millions of people around the world will step out in marches celebrating the life and work of her husband.
It was her work, too. Coretta was more than Martin’s wife and widow. Matrimony gave her a stage, and his martyrdom gave her a legacy, but she was great in her own right. She was an independent thinker whose role as a moral leader and tireless advocate for human rights preceded his assassination.
Years before Martin spoke against the Vietnam War, Coretta was marching against it. She
also spoke out against sexism in the civil rights movement, telling New Lady magazine in 1966, “Not enough attention has been focused on the roles played by women in the struggle. By and large, men have formed the leadership in the civil rights struggle but … women have been the backbone of the whole civil rights movement.”
The day before his funeral, Coretta flew to Memphis, Tenn., with their three oldest children to lead a march he’d been scheduled to head.
Coretta is the person most responsible for how we view and honor her husband’ legacy. She created the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and advocated for the national holiday not as static memorials but as living testimonials to the philosophy
of nonviolence that defined his work.
That Coretta is the reason so many march on MLK Day is what makes what happened Feb. 7, 2006 — what I call Coretta’s March — so special. That was the morning of her funeral.
People who wanted to attend the funeral at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church had to gather at a mall in the Atlanta suburb of Lithonia to catch shuttle buses. It was frigid, with a biting wind. Some people had been in line since 10 p.m. the night before.
“Why would anyone get here at 10 at night?” asked a woman way back in the line.
“So they could be up there in front instead of back here,” answered another woman.
Nearly 2 hours later, it was announced there would be no
more bus service because the church and overflow area were full.
This hurt and angered people, especially those who’d traveled across the country. But instead of going back to their cars, hundreds — maybe a thousand — decided to march the 3 to 4 miles to the church.
The well-dressed marchers surprised traffic police and motorists with their procession. Someone began singing the civil rights song “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around.”
A man coming from the church leaned out a bus window and shouted, “The church is full!”
“That’s not the point,” a woman shouted back. “We’re making a statement and showing our love and respect for Coretta.”
The marchers were Black, white and Latino, young and old, all joining this civil and dignified journey.
Some walked with crutches, walkers and canes up the hilly street. Some DeKalb County police officers gave older marchers rides to the church.
The overflow room, which seats more than 2,000, was only one-third full. Some of the marchers, tired and aching, sat down to watch the funeral on the three screens. Others, having made their statement, started making the long walk back to the mall and their vehicles.
They’d marched for Coretta and were now going home.
Monday’s march has Martin’s name on it, but Coretta is why we’re marching.