Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King née Scott April 27 1927 January 30 2006 was an American author activist civil rights leader and the wife of Martin Luther King Jr As an advocate for AfricanAmerican equality she was a leader for the civil rights movement in the 1960s King was also a singer who often incorporated music into her civil rights work King met her husband while attending graduate school in Boston They both became increasingly active in the American civil rights movement King played a prominent role in the years after her husbands assassination in 1968 when she took on the leadership of the struggle for racial equality herself and became active in the Womens Movement King founded the King Center and sought to make his birthday a national holiday She finally succeeded when Ronald Reagan signed legislation which established Martin Luther King Jr Day on November 2 1983 She later broadened her scope to include both advocacy for LGBTQ rights and opposition to apartheid King became friends with many politicians before and after Martins death including John F Kennedy Lyndon B Johnson and Robert F Kennedy Her telephone conversation with John F Kennedy during the 1960 presidential election has been credited by historians for mobilizing AfricanAmerican voters Description above from the Wikipedia article Coretta Scott King licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia