Coretta Scott King 1927-2006

I watched the funeral of Coretta Scott King last night. What a great American. An embodiment of so much of the American ideals I hold dear. A champion of human rights and for a life dedicated to peace and justice. She has left us with an enduring leagcy to continue and uphold. I will try to model my behavior as an example of her and her husband's legacy. Peace, Justice, Equality, Tolerance.

Coretta Scott King, 78, died Jan. 30 of ovarian cancer. Her casket was placed on a horse-drawn carriage and taken to the King Center in Atlanta, where she was buried in a mausoleum of white Georgia marble near her husband's tomb


Here are excerpts from tributes given at Tuesday's funeral for Coretta Scott King:

"Her journey was long and only briefly with a hand to hold, but now she leans on everlasting arms." President George W. Bush

"Americans knew her husband only as a young man," Mr. Bush said. "We knew Mrs. King in all the seasons of her life. And there was beauty and dignity in every season."
He added, "By going forward with a strong and forgiving heart, Coretta Scott King not only secured her husband's legacy, she built her own. Having loved a leader, she became a leader."

"For me, she embodied royalty. She was the queen. ... She leaves us all a better America than the America of her childhood." Oprah Winfrey

"For decades, she was the wind at our back as we worked to uphold civil rights laws." Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

"Who among us will join the freedom choir? Who among us will sing Coretta's song with courage and conviction, to smother the cries of hatred, economic exploitation, poverty and political disenfranchisement? For whom does the bell toll? It tolls for you and for me." Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin

"They overcame one of the greatest challenges of life, which is to be able to wage a fierce struggle for freedom and justice and to do it peacefully." Former President Jimmy Carter

"Let us not think about history. Let us make history and let us move forward." Dorothy Height, longtime chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women

"We owe something from this minute on, so that this gathering is not just another footnote on the pages of history," said poet Maya Angelou

"I mean to say I want to see a better world. I mean to say I want to see some peace somewhere."
Poet Maya Angelou

"They understood that the difficulty of success does not relieve one of the obligation to try." Former President Bill Clinton, referring to Coretta Scott King and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Thank you Mrs. King.