Thursday, February 09, 2006

Our Queen




Our queen has moved on to a higher place to meet her king. Let me repeat that. I said our queen has moved on to meet with her king. Mrs. King the wife of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was and forever more would be revered as a woman who was an important part of the civil rights movement. I wasn’t born at this critical time in history but I have read, watch and herd stories of this time that would make the strongest man view and hear these stories cringe. Looking at Mrs. Coretta Scott King showed me a few things every time I saw her. She displayed beauty, strength, grace, pride and a silent power with her welcoming smile.
She was even more beautiful even after the physical and mental wars of fighting for equal rights. Some would say that with all that stress, time would have taken its toll. God had a hand on this woman of faith as she kept her dignity.

While watching her on television I saw candid smiles and a gleam in her eye that had focus and wisdom. She was a woman who endured the struggle in a number of ways. She fought side by side with Dr. King and raised their four children while he was away fighting the good fight. She personified a wife, mother and a woman of faith!

You have to understand that Coretta Scott King was in the midst of a live pressure cooker known as the south in the fifty and sixties, that was boiling over from all sides. The death threats, the bombing of the houses, marching and arrest could not and would not break the spirit of the non violence movement. In those times it built character in this woman because she knew her King would not be here to see us get to the promise land. She had to have spiritual guidance and learn to forgive those who tormented, named called and physically wanted to hurt her and all that was involved.

She was our superwoman, a model for what a wife should be. Quiet demeanor spoke so loud that all knew who she was as she became a celebrity even after her beloved husband was assassinated on a balcony in April 1968. Mrs. King was instrumental and fought tirelessly to try and get her husband’s birthday to become a national holiday. There are only two other men in this country we celebrate with a national holiday. Those two are, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and our king, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was added. I was fortunate to attend high school in Philadelphia named after him. That was a great and proud feeling that I had as a kid to see pictures of the King family through out the building.

So much has change in these days and times. I cherish women as a whole, however I embody my black women and place them on an even higher pedestal because of the struggle they endure today. I pray that when they bury Mrs. King that the young women can look at this woman who was so regal and take something from her strength. Too many woman especially young women are in relationships with men they really don’t know how to love. I am sure Mr. King wasn’t a saint all the time but she stood by him and the odds were defied and we indeed over came the masses and equal rights were granted. Her tireless, diligent work displayed her love for him even after his death so we all can dream like he did. He taught us that. He taught us when you have God and a good woman like Coretta, nothing is impossible. Nothing!

Mrs. King I personally thank you and I hope your King met you in heaven with the The King and His son and the embraced you and said well done. Well done. I know they will, i know they will.