Editorial: Coretta Scott King: 1927-2006

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2006 | 8:11 a.m.

Coretta Scott King traveled the rocky road of American civil rights with grace and dignity.

Before she passed away Tuesday at the age of 78, the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. struck a delicate balance in fulfilling the challenging roles of mother, pastor's wife and civil rights leader.

Although King appeared to exist largely in the shadow of her celebrated husband, she was there at every step of his journey, from the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., to the efforts leading to passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

After her husband was shot and killed in April 1968, King could have retreated from public life in despair. Instead, she pushed onward, working for an end to racism, poverty, war and the other products of oppression.

The year her husband was assassinated, King initiated creation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. The center now draws about 650,000 visitors a year and offers training programs to help build a nonviolent community in which, according to the center's Web site, "poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it."

We mourn the passing of this graceful, gifted and courageous woman whose legacy provides a foundation for nonviolent social change, which we must not only remember but also continue.