Honoring the Life and Accomplishments of Mrs. Coretta Scott King

Floor Speech

HONORING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MRS. CORETTA SCOTT KING -- (House of Representatives - February 01, 2006)

02/01/06

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman; and thank you, Mr. Ranking Member, for this opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, I consider it a singular privilege and a superlative pleasure to speak today in honor of Mrs. King.

Mr. Speaker, Dr. King expressed some of the great ideals of our time, ideals like injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. But it was Mrs. King who went to South Africa and, in a sense, made real that ideal by reminding the South Africans that apartheid was unacceptable, and causing many of us to understand that injustice in South Africa was a threat to justice in America.

Dr. King expressed the ideal that we should transform neighborhoods into brotherhoods; but it was Mrs. King who met with gang members and caused them to understand that it was their neighborhood and their brotherhood that was needed to cause these to be good neighborhoods.

Dr. King reminded us that life is an inescapable network of mutuality tied to a single garment of destiny, that whatever impacts one directly impacts all indirectly. But it was Mrs. King who went to Mrs. Mandela and who visited with her as her husband was on the eve of leaving prison because she understood that Nelson Mandela's suffering was indirectly impacting the suffering of all people in the world.

So I am honored today to honor the first lady of the civil rights movement, who has been said to have been a person with a gentle spirit, but with a will, a will of steel. And while she was the first lady, I think many of us will always see her as our queen. Thank you, Queen Mother King.

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to honor and commemorate Coretta Scott King, a tireless advocate for civil rights and the widow of the great civil rights leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today, we continue to mourn the loss of a great woman and a pioneer of civil rights. While Dr. King was the visionary behind the civil rights movement, Mrs. King was the architect. She made real the ideals expressed by
Dr. King. A driving force, she valiantly worked to found the King Center to both preserve the history of the civil rights movement and to train the many men and women in the philosophy of non-violent resistance.

Mrs. King was first and foremost a woman of strong character. She was a leader in her steadfast presence, her determination, and her courage. As one of the first people to speak out against apartheid, she embodied her husband's words ``injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.''

Her passion for equality and justice led her on numerous peace delegations around the world. Her actions and work with gang members demonstrated the value and the necessity of transforming neighborhoods into brotherhoods. Mrs. King spoke out against attacks on affirmative action and against racial profiling. As a result of her unrelenting campaign efforts, a bill was signed in support of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday.

Devoting relentless energy to her noble work, Mrs. Coretta Scott King has made a tremendous impact on American history. She will be missed by all those who knew her and remembered by all those who have benefited from her enormous contributions.

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