[Alumni-chat] Fwd: Happy Birthday Coretta Scott King

[Steven Duffy]

----- Original Message -----

		Friday, April 27, 2007 10:14:11 AM
Urgent Pulse
From:		Dana Patterson
Subject:	Happy Birthday Coretta Scott King
To:		Pulse
Announcements

Today would have been the 80th birthday of the late Coretta Scott King.
She left those of us at Antioch College a wonderful gift in her name and
her legacy through the CSKC for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom.  As we
contemplate our many freedoms today, be mindful of those who dedicated
(and continue to do so) their lives to our collective freedom.  Today be
especially mindful of Coretta Scott King and the example she provided in a
life of courage, dignity and respect for others across difference.  I am
including a brief bio (just in case).  

Peace,
Dana  


Mrs. Coretta Scott King
Human Rights Activist and Leader
~
Biographical Information
~
Coretta Scott King was one of the most influential women leaders of our
time. Prepared by her family, education, and personality for a life
committed to social justice and peace, she entered the world stage in 1955
as wife of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and as a leading
participant in the American Civil Rights Movement. Her remarkable
partnership with Dr. King resulted not only in four talented children, but
in a life devoted to the highest values of human dignity in service to
social change. Mrs. King traveled throughout our nation and world speaking
out on behalf of racial and economic justice, women's and children's
rights, gay and lesbian dignity, religious freedom, the needs of the poor
and homeless, full-employment, health care, educational opportunities,
nuclear disarmament and ecological sanity.
Born and raised in Marion, Alabama, Coretta Scott graduated valedictorian
from Lincoln High School. She received a B.A. in music and education from
Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and then went on to study concert
singing at Boston's New England Conservatory of Music, where she earned a
degree in voice and violin. While in Boston she met Martin Luther King,
Jr. who was then studying for his doctorate in systematic theology at
Boston University. They were married on June 18, 1953.
During Dr. King's career, Mrs. King devoted most of her time to raising
their four children: Yolanda Denise (1955), Martin Luther, III (1957),
Dexter Scott (1961), and Bernice Albertine (1963). From the earliest days,
however, she balanced mothering and movement work, speaking before church,
civic, college, fraternal and peace groups.~
After her husband's assassination in 1968, Mrs. King devoted much of her
energy and attention to developing programs and building the Atlanta-based
Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change as a living
memorial to her husband's life and dream. Mrs. King spearheaded the
massive educational and lobbying campaign to establish Dr. King's birthday
as a national holiday. In 1983, an act of Congress instituted the Martin
Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission, which she chaired for its
duration. And in January 1986, Mrs. King oversaw the first legal holiday
in honor of her husband--a holiday which has come to be celebrated by
millions of people world-wide and, in some form, in over 100 countries. 
Coretta Scott King departed this life on January 30, 2006.
~

Dana Murray Patterson, PhD
Director, Coretta Scott King Center for
Cultural and Intellectual Freedom and 
Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity
Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio
(937) 769-1785 office
dpatterson at antioch-college.edu