Like many female leaders from the 20th century, Coretta Scott King is often stripped of her lifelong activism and honored as a self-sacrificing mother instead. She is widely recognized as the wife and widow of Martin Luther King Jr. and was aware of it too. Coretta lamented how she was frequently admired as her husband’s accessory when she explained, “I am made to sound like an attachment to a vacuum cleaner. The wife and then widow of Martin, all of which I was proud to be. But I am more than a label” (King, My Life, My Love, My Legacy, 1). Coretta’s activism emerged before she met her husband. In fact, her beliefs complemented and even led some of his political movements. Her memorialization as a wife and helpmate prevent her work from being fully recognized. Coretta was a notable leader in the 1950s because of her contributions against American social injustice, such as the civil rights movement and antiwar campaigns. Although she faced criticism as a female activist, she filled in the political void her husband left by continuing the nonviolence movement and encouraging the youth to do the same.

How Coretta Scott King’s early life inspired her leadership style:

Born in Marion, Alabama on April 27, 1927, Coretta Scott was the second of three children. Growing up, Coretta was exposed to racial violence from an early age. At 15, she witnessed white racists burn her house down. Although her father eventually rebuilt another house even owned a lumber mill years later, his successful recovery only angered their white neighbors more. As a result, the Scotts became a target for many death threats. Despite her parents being dropouts, they highly valued education and made sure Coretta and her siblings would get the education that they had been denied. Coretta’s mother encouraged her to believe her role as a woman was more than just being a wife and that Coretta would become independent through education.

 Because the schooling in Alabama did not go beyond elementary school, Coretta acknowledged that the chances of obtaining a higher education as a black woman were very slim. Nonetheless, her hopes soared when her family managed to send her and her sister to Lincoln Normal School, a semi-private high school owned by former slaves, where she graduated as valedictorian. She then received a scholarship to Antioch College, a liberal arts college with very few black students enrolled. During her time in college, Coretta participated in the college’s work-study program. She served many roles, such as a camp counselor, library assistant, and a nursery school attendant. Coretta’s membership in the local NAACP and civil liberties communications became the foundation for her social justice work. She also faced serious racial discrimination there, including an incident where the Yellow Springs School Board refused to let her teach at a nearby elementary school in order to fulfill her degree requirements. This prevented her from pursuing a career in education and she graduated with a B.A in music along with education. After graduating, Coretta received a scholarship to study concert singing at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It was there she met Martin Luther King Jr., and the two bonded over their political and social interests. They were compatible despite their differences. Coretta was more of a pacifist while Dr.King preferred to approach oppression with nonviolence. At the time, Coretta was more politically active than he was. Although she was skeptical of their future together, the couple eventually married and began their first step into their civil rights commitment in Montgomery, Alabama.

A contextual overview of the movements Coretta Scott King was involved in:

The civil rights movement was a mass protest movement organized by black Americans in an effort to end racial discrimination and gain equal rights for people of color. Although the movement technically started in the late 1940s, the modern movement officially began in 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give her seat up for a white man on the bus. This incident instigated the year-long Montgomery bus boycott, which Dr. King became the leader and spokesperson of. While the boycott is primarily known as the advent of Dr. King’s leadership, Coretta also played a vital role as his confidant. Seven weeks into the boycott, the Kings’ house was bombed while Coretta and their newborn were inside. They escaped uninjured, but this hate crime was only a fraction of the violence that was to come. Coretta and Dr. King’s parents tried convincing her to leave Montgomery for her child’s sake, and despite being terrified and indecisive, Coretta insisted on staying with her husband. Her decision to stay not only shaped the bus boycott but the emerging civil rights movement as well. During the boycott, the Kings received endless hate calls which Coretta calmly answered. She explained her stance later, “During the bus boycott I was tested by fire and I came to understand I was not a breakable crystal figurine…I found I became stronger in a crisis” (Theoharis). The bus boycott gave her a sense of fearlessness. Coretta became aware that she was capable of contributing to a movement that could change the lives of marginalized people forever. 

Aside from racial justice politics, Coretta was an avid pacifist who also took part in peace movements. Her peace activism included a global vision, such as the antiwar campaigns against the Vietnam War in the 1960s. These ambiguous movements were first started by peace activists on college campuses but gained prominence in 1965 when the U.S began bombing North Vietnam. The antiwar campaign consisted of marches and public protests led by students that gained nationwide attention. The bombings, along with the increasing support for the campaigns, urged Coretta to continue her public opposition to the war even when her husband wavered. 

A critical analysis of Coretta Scott King’s 1968 Class Day speech:

One example of Coretta’s peace and social justice activism is a powerful speech she delivered to the class of 1968 at Harvard University on July 1st, 1968. Dr. King was originally the Class Day speaker but due to his sudden assassination, Coretta was prompted to speak on his behalf. The speech primarily focused on the importance of making social changes and standing up for the right values. Coretta crafted her speech around three major points: the potential students had in order to become the next leaders, the value of leading the movement without prominent faces, and the causes student should address. She first urged students to fill in the gaps that prominent leaders such as Dr. King and the Kennedy brothers left. This is clearly expressed when she said, “Your generation must speak out with righteous indignation against the forces that are seeking to destroy us” (King). Although she did not explicitly state it in her speech, it was clear that she thought of the youth as society’s future. She used examples of movements led by students all over the world as a way to inspire American students. 

The reason why Coretta had so much faith in the new generation was that the majority of them were raised to be individually creative and were given the license to question authority, much like herself. Therefore, she believed the youth were able to offer better ideas towards reconstructing society. Aside from motivating students to tackle leadership, she also addressed the increasing levels of violence happening worldwide. Coretta described the current world as “power-drunk, where means become ends, and violence becomes a favorite pastime” (King). This could be referring to the Vietnam War. This is because the Vietnam War was prevalent in society at the time, especially after the bombing of North Vietnam in 1965. Antiwar campaigns began expanding outside of college campuses prior to the bombings. Coretta was aware that the protestors primarily consisted of students who used nonviolent tactics to get their message across. She appreciated their methods even if they were ineffective. She then highlighted the war as a crisis when she directly asked President Lyndon B, Johnson to “stop the bombing in Vietnam now” since the battle brought more harm than good (King).

 In an effort to prepare the new graduates for their next step into leadership, Coretta warned them of the obstacles they’d face during their journey. She explained that marginalized students would face more struggles than their white peers such as material disadvantages and stereotypes. Coretta’s identity as a black woman and a graduate made her speech more impactful because she understood the perspective of marginalized students and how important it was to include them. She knew that while students wanted recognition for their contributions,  marginalized students were still struggling to earn the same rights their fellow classmates had. Despite these potential drawbacks, however, she encouraged students to work together to advocate for civil rights and protest racism. 

A critical analysis of Coretta Scott King’s contributions, intertwined legacy, and criticism:

Coretta’s contributions to the civil rights and anti-Vietnam movement were more than just speaking on her husband’s behalf. Although she opened the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change to honor the King family legacy and lobbied for 15 years to make Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday, Coretta was involved in numerous other causes throughout her life. She carried her husband’s dream for a nonviolent world by continuing many of the projects he had left behind. However, she also expanded on his vision by including rights that he had not focused on and protesting international injustice.

Coretta’s peace activism first took flight in 1957, when she became one of the founders of the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy. She then spoke at the Youth March for Integrated Schools a year later, praising the youth for not being silent. Coretta was also a delegate for the Women’s Strike for Peace to the Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Switzerland in 1962. Ever since she joined the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, she became more vocal about peace issues, considering the U.S involvement increased in Vietnam since the 1960s. Even though Dr. King stopped publicly fighting against the war due to severe backlash, Coretta continued the public anti-war sentiment. She kept her promise to speak at a Washington DC peace rally when her husband backed out of it, As she addressed the crowd, a reporter asked Dr. King if he had educated his wife on these issues, but to the reporter’s surprise, Dr. King simply said she educated him instead.

After Dr. King’s assassination, Coretta took the initiative to fill in the political void he left. She continued his dream of a peaceful, nonviolent world by leading the march he was originally going to lead four days after his death. Her strong, composed demeanor reassured people that although a great leader like Dr. King was gone, the movement was not over. Because Coretta was aware of the tremendous work that had to be done on her husband’s behalf, she committed the rest of her life towards the international peace work, knowing this was how he wanted to be honored. One example of how Coretta continued Dr. King’s work was when she enabled the movement he originally planned in an attempt to raise awareness about poverty. She also acknowledged rights her husband did not cover, such as economic justice and welfare rights.

Even though people remember her for her influential leadership and legacy, they may not know about the criticism that she faced. There was a point in her marriage where her husband wished for her to stay home and raise the kids. Dr. King’s opinion on his ideal wife was that she should be well-educated, her purpose was to stay at home and be a housewife. His conviction did not change her belief that she was meant to be more than just a wife. In fact, she put her music degree to use and held benefit concerts for the movement, even while at home. She later expressed how she felt about the restriction, saying, “I once told Martin that although I loved being his wife and a mother, if that was all I did I would’ve gone crazy. I felt a calling on my life from an early age…I had something to contribute to the world” (Theoharis). While Dr. King would’ve appreciated Coretta at home more, she changed his perception of women by taking key roles in global movements and activism. While the Kings often received criticism for their public opposition against the Vietnam War, it was until Coretta started advocating for same-sex marriage and rights that her own family turned against her. Her children and fellow peers thought her support for same-sex marriage was immoral. However, Coretta didn’t let their opinions affect her work. She stood firm with her opposition against the amendment that banned same-sex marriage, arguing that LGBTQ+ rights fell under human rights. She insisted that the LGBTQ+ community was also a part of the nonviolent world her husband had always dreamed of and that their freedom was just as important as other marginalized groups.

Coretta King’s adaptability and specific contributions to fighting American injustice made her an influential leader. She will always be remembered for breaking barriers and testing the limits of what society told her she could do. Although she is often seen as just Dr. King’s wife, studying her early life reveals that she was already a leader on her own. Her steadfastness shaped the way the Civil Rights Movement progressed, and she continued to empower others after her husband’s death. Her 1968 “Class Day” speech is a prime example of the work she continued after her husband’s death and the legacy they shared. Despite the criticism she received for being such an outspoken woman leader, she remained steadfast in her beliefs and activism.

WORKS CITED:

King, Coretta Scott, and Barbara A. Reynolds. My Life, My Love, My Legacy. Henry Holt and Company, 2017.

Bagley, Edythe Scott., and Joseph H. Hilley. Desert Rose: The Life and Legacy of Coretta Scott King. University of Alabama Press, 2012.

Theoharis, Jeanne. “Coretta Scott King and the Civil Rights Movement’s Hidden Women.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, February 2018. Web. 26 Nov. 2019.

King, Coretta Scott. “1968 Class Day Speech.” www.harvardmagazine.com Harvard Magazine, May 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2019.

Traughber, Rachel. “At Harvard, a Revolution, 50 Years in the Making.” The Harvard Gazette. The Harvard Gazette, 11 May 2018. Web. 26 Nov. 2019.