(uplifting piano music)
NARRATOR: When you think of Coretta Scott King,
you probably think of the wife of a slain Civil Rights leader,
and a single mother of four, but that's Mrs. King.
We're here to talk about Coretta,
a fierce fighter, and courageous leader.
The woman you don't know.
When Coretta was a child, she dreamed of becoming a singer,
of leaving her small Alabama town and performing at the Metropolitan Opera.
And breaking down barriers in the Black community.
She was on her way when she fell in love with a minister
who shared her vision of a future where all of humanity lived in peace.
But she didn't stop singing.
For years, she held freedom concerts all over the US,
that raised money to support the Civil Rights movement.
In between singing classical songs
and traditional spirituals,
she spoke about the world she was helping build.
(singing opera)
♪ Come by here, my Lord ♪
♪ Come by here ♪
♪ Oh, Lord ♪
♪ Come by here ♪
Coretta was raised to see the best in others,
and that acting in anger was never a solution.
Even though, growing up,
she and her family were constantly subjected to racist attacks.
When the Scott's home was burned to the ground,
Coretta's father told her and her siblings
to forgive the people who did it.
His determination to not let other people's hate
define his actions stuck with Coretta.
At Antioch College, Coretta was politically active,
and joined the peace movement.
She made it a priority in the following decades
to oppose nuclear weapons and the Vietnam war.
Coretta took part in rallies, protests and marches,
and was often invited to speak in the US and abroad.
NARRATOR: Now just because Coretta worked for peace,
doesn't mean she was passive.
When she got married in 1953, she removed "obey"
from her wedding vows,
but she always supported her husband, and the Civil Rights movement.
Like in 1956 when their house in Montgomery was bombed,
nearly killing Coretta, her friend Mary,
and her infant daughter Yolanda.
Coretta's father wanted her to leave town.
Coretta refused. Her resolve to stay and support the cause
empowered her husband to continue leading
the Montgomery bus boycott to victory.
It was this dedication that helped Coretta carry on
after her husband was assassinated.
Only days after his death, she returned to Memphis,
with three of her four children,
to take his place in a march supporting sanitation workers.
NARRATOR: Coretta's support of workers' rights and unions grew
as she carried the torch for the Civil Rights movement.
She expanded her view of what true freedom meant,
and took on many causes to get at the roots
of inequality and conflict.
NARRATOR: As with her opposition to the Vietnam war,
Coretta wasn't afraid of taking on causes that weren't popular.
Starting in the 1970s, she was outspoken about gay rights,
even when some around her didn't want to hear it.
NARRATOR: Coretta kept up her activism for her entire life,
working with politicians, world leaders
and countless organizations to fight for gun control,
oppose the Iraq war and apartheid,
end poverty and joblessness, and so much more.
In 1986, she wrote a letter which helped block
Jeff Sessions from becoming a federal judge.
Thirty years later,
that same letter was read by Elizabeth Warren
to oppose his confirmation as Attorney General.
Mitch McConnell had Warren silenced,
and made the now famous complaint,
"Nevertheless, she persisted."
Coretta died in 2006,
but she probably would have liked that rallying cry.
Her entire life is a testament to that statement,
especially in her tireless efforts to preserve
and expand her husband's legacy
and the beliefs they both held dear,
by getting his birthday declared a national holiday,
and building the Martin Luther King Jr. Center
for Nonviolent Social Change.
Both achievements took years of Coretta planning and lobbying,
and ignoring her naysayers,
but nevertheless, Coretta persisted.
We honor her husband, and the Civil Rights movement,
the third Monday of every January,
and the King Center welcomes over one million visitors a year
who want to learn about nonviolence and work for a better world.
Everything Coretta did came from a place of love and empathy,
to unite people in a beloved community,
which is what she called a place of true respect,
love and justice that transcends race, color, or creed.
She once wrote...
♪ ♪