Coretta Scott King, Human Rights Advocate, Dies

This same faith and cosmic companionship sustained me after my husband was assassinated, and gave me the strength to make my contribution to carrying forward his unfinished work. "

---- Coretta Scott King, Human Rights Advocate

Mrs. King, 78 years young, passed away in her sleep last night from complications of a stroke and heart attack suffered in 2005.

Coretta Scott King, widely known as the widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was also a tireless, profoundly effective advocate for human rights. For decades, Mrs. King was CEO of the King Center she founded to continue her husband's principles of nonviolent social change to fight poverty, racism and war. She's been awarded 60 honorary degrees, authored 3 books and served in dozens of social justice organizations.

"She was truly the first lady of the human rights movement" the Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement released today. The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, a family friend, described her to CNN as a "matriarch of the movement, a patriot of all that America stands for."

Be sure to read my Profile of Coretta Scott King, Human Rights Advocate.
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