Coretta Scott King: A Drum Major for Justice

I remember her grace and humble spirit walking across Morehouse's campus as if she was in hot pursuit to do something. What, I couldn't say, but she looked like a woman on a mission. I couldn't help but ask around to see what was going on because I had her so much about this "icon" of a woman growing up that to see her for the first time was quite overwhelming. To some she was quite intimidating because in some regards you could say that she never asked for the fanfare, she just wanted to be a loving wife and mother, however, on April 4, 1968, her life took a turn that she could never go back to the way things were. Her husband was killed and she, all of a sudden, had been pushed to the forefront. The entire world had known her, but she never really had to say anything because her husband often spoke on their behalf, however, on this day a decision had to be made. What was to happen to all that her husband had worked so hard for? What would become of the movement that defined who the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was? Would the work die in Memphis, Tennessee at the Lorraine Hotel? Or would it continue in the hands of the men who walked alongside the man with the mission.

The decision was made by Coretta and Coretta alone to continue the work that her husband had started. No, she didn't ask for it, but she knew that her life had meaning and had purpose and found it to be in the movement that she had married. Did you get that? She realized that she had married more than just a mere man. She had caught a glimpse of destiny and realized that the Lord had caused her to marry a "movement" and a movement doesn't die...It multiplies!

The work of the 1950's and 60's was carried on by the widow and First lady of the Civil Rights movement because that's what she had to do. There comes a time in life when we realize that we have a mission, a destiny that is larger than our own life. It encompasses the very fabric of our society and it's given definition and meaning by the tenacity with which we reach. Had Coretta stayed in her seat what would have become of so much of the work that was continued? Had she shut her mouth and stayed in her bed of comfort just as the "widow" and "First lady" what would have happened to the generations coming behind? I'm thankful today because she was unselfish in that she shared her life with the world. She shared her memories and she shared her husband because, in actuality, he belonged to the world. His mission was to get something started and her plight was to continue the work. Now this dynamic couple belongs to the ages and the history books shall record a great combustion of energy that circumvented the times and walked the streets of the south in order to begin a revolution.

What is our role in this because whether you think you do or don't, you do have a part to play. You can either sit on the sidelines and benefit from the strides that have been made or you can stand up. Stand up or sit down, you've got one of two options because the work doesn't stop. That's what I saw in Coretta's eyes when I was a student at Morehouse College, I saw a determination a dedication and a dependability in her that said, "come hell or high water, I won't be stopped!" She wouldn't allow her situations to get her encumbered to where she would let people forget what happened and how far we've come as a people. She became a trailblazer in the same spirit of the movement that she had married not just for her or her children but she did so because of the generations that were yet to be born. She realized that there were others who would never know the struggle if she didn't remind them. There were those who would find it easy to sugar coat the 50's and 60's if she didn't say something so she made a decision, at the risk of being popular and at the risk of possibly losing her life, she stood up and became what the movement called for, A DRUM MAJOR FOR JUSTICE!

Sleep on First Lady, sleep on First Lady, your labor has not been in vain. The movement lives on...