Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Coretta Scott King 1927-2006


Coretta Scott King has passed.

A wife, a widow, a mother, a woman has died.

Many will laud her courage and use words like dignity, wisdom and grace.

Many will speak of her strength in the face of violence and oppression. Others will mention her dignity in the face of great loss…of murder so public yet so personal.

Yes, Coretta Scott King was all of that and more. The legacy of her life is both an inspiration and a challenge to us all.

This was the life of a black woman…so full of experiences and history, of family and friends, of laughter and tears.

A glorious black woman…with wisdom born from success and failure, pain and joy.

A magnificent black woman…with grace wrenched from the hands of oppression and denial.

A black woman…a daughter, mother, wife then widow. Her face has looked back at me my entire life…captured for all time in triumph, in sorrow, with hope, despair, joy and perseverance.

So beautiful….her head held high in defiance, with pride, with faith and yes with courage. Those shoulders burdened but not broken…that body full of strength that seemed to hold us all together, to take on so much and yet move forward so that we all could take those steps after each stumble...get up after each fall...continue to struggle year after year, denial after denial, incident after incident, victory upon victory.

Her legacy is now our inheritance.

Mother, sister and elder…you will be honored. You have left a footprint, a beautiful scar that stands as a testament to what we all can do, can endure, can triumph over, can embrace, can struggle against, can overcome…can be.

Will be.

May you be blessed, Coretta Scott King.

14 comments:

princessdominique said...

She's left a strong legacy indeed.

Hammer said...

I'll always be grateful for her continued commitment to nonviolent resistance, peace, justice and social change! She's proof that all the theory (that so many of us discuss)can be put into action!

Peace ABB

(how you feeling in the shadow of Alito's confirmation?)

Hammer

PissedOffPencil said...

Even I, living in this cold corner of the world, have admired and been inspired by Mr. and Mrs King. They have set an example for all of us to follow, black or white, yellow or red, all humans of all shades.

christine mtm said...

i was wondering when you would post on her. i had just finished a blog on flight 93 when i suddenly saw the news that she had died and had to post about her too.

it was hard for me to find the words to say, you did it beautifully

Homer said...

I wish we had more heroic people like Mrs. King. She spoke up and said the things that needed to be said.

Dixie said...

I hope Mrs. King knew what an example she was for so many people.

ABB, this was a beautiful tribute.

Amie said...

Amen.

And then some.

Anonymous said...

Amen from me as well.

Am wishing her family all the love they need during their time of grief

dondon009 said...

Somehow I knew to come to this site tonite......

Somehow I knew you would write a tribute.....

Somehow I knew I would have to read no other.....

I Thank You!

DON~

Anonymous said...

Beautiful. Thank you for posting this.
BTW- I just started reading your blog.
It's aweosme!

Cecily

Mary said...

I found it hideous that the usurper-in-chief started out mentioning her this evening. He isn't fit to utter her name.

Anonymous said...

Your stunning tribute is by far the most beautiful and insightful I have read. Thank you.

YouToldHarpoTaBeatMe said...

Such a fitting tribute for such a beautiful person.

Anonymous said...

Simply beautiful, ABB.

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