Coretta scott king funeral, the wife of civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr., died on January 30, 2006, after being admitted to a rehabilitation centre in Rosarito Beach, Mexico.
Eight days later, her public funeral was held at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in her home state of Georgia. King was interred next to her husband in a crypt on the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change grounds, as per her wishes.
Coretta Scott King Funeral Death Image
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Throughout 2005, King suffered from strokes and had several illnesses, including a minor heart attack. Because of King’s death, the clinic where she received medical care garnered some publicity, though it was primarily unfavorable, and was eventually shut down.
King had previously been freed from Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital after regaining part of her speech. King signed into the facility in Mexico, where she would eventually die two weeks later.
Coretta Scott King Death
Coretta Scott King passed away late on January 30, 2006 at the Oasis Hospital in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, where she received holistic treatment for her stroke and advanced-stage ovarian cancer. Respiratory failure caused by ovarian cancer complications is the leading cause of her death.
Hospital Santa Monica was the facility’s name where she died, but it was licensed as Clinica Santo Tomas. It was not legally permitted to “conduct surgery, take X-rays, perform laboratory work, or run an internal pharmacy, all of which it was doing,” according to newspaper reports.
Kurt Donsbach, a controversial alternative medicine figure from San Diego, created, owned, and operated the business. The clinic was closed down by the state medical commissioner of Baja California, Mexico, following King’s death. King’s body was carried from Mexico to Atlanta on February 1, 2006.
In a state of slumber
King’s remains were transported to the Georgia State Capitol in a horse-drawn carriage on February 4, 2006, where she was laid out in honor.
She was the first African-American woman and the first African-American woman to accomplish so. As they filed past King’s casket, almost 16,000 mourners paid their respects.
Coretta Scott King Funeral
On February 7, 2006, about 14,000 people attended Coretta Scott King’s eight-hour funeral at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, where her daughter Bernice King, an elder in the church, gave the eulogy.
With a sanctuary seating 10,000 people, the megachurch was better equipped to handle the expected large crowds than Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King had been a member since the early 1960s and where Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral was held in 1968.
Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter and their wives were in attendance, except former First Lady Barbara Bush, who had another engagement.
Due to President Ford’s illness, the Ford family could not attend (who himself died later that year). George W. Bush delayed a planned appearance in Manchester to discuss the federal budget to attend the funeral.
The broadcast event was attended by several other major political and civil rights leaders, including the-U.S. Senator Barack Obama.
Until a permanent mausoleum could be built adjacent to her husband’s ashes, King was interred in a temporary mausoleum on the grounds of the King Center.
She told family members and others that she wanted her ashes to be interred alongside her husband’s at the King Center. The new mausoleum carrying the bodies of Martin Luther King and Coretta King was unveiled in front of friends and family on November 20, 2006. It is Martin Luther King Jr.’s third resting site.
Oration at a funeral
Funeral orations were delivered by President Jimmy Carter and Rev. Joseph Lowery. With President George W. Bush seated just a few feet away, Rev. Lowery mentioned the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, citing Coretta’s vehement opposition to the war:
“She despised the terror our smart bombs imposed on foreign missions… There were no weapons of mass devastation over there, we now know. However, Coretta and I both knew that there were deception weapons down here.
There are millions of people who do not have health insurance. Poverty is rampant. More billions for war, but none for the poor.”
President Carter mentioned that her family had been the subject of secret government wiretapping, referring to Coretta’s lengthy campaign for civil rights.
Thunderous applause and standing ovations greeted their slightly critical remarks about US government policy.
According to conservative critics, Lowery’s remarks were improper in a setting meant to honor Mrs. King’s life, especially while President George W. Bush was in attendance.
Reactions
• Author Maya Angelou, who is best known for her novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, said on ABC’s Good Morning America that the morning of King’s death was a “heartbreaking” experience “It’s a bleak morning for me and many others, but it’s also a fantastic morning because we get to look at her and see what she did and who she was.
It’s sad because I can’t hear her delightful voice — many of us can’t — but it’s wonderful because she did exist, and she was ours. She belonged to us — African-Americans, white Americans, Asians, Spanish-speakers — and that’s a wonderful thing.”
• Andrew Young, the former mayor of Atlanta who broke the news of her death on NBC’s Today, praised King’s strength and said, “In comparison to her husband’s, she was a force to be reckoned with.”
“She was as powerful as he was, if not stronger. She had an elegant and lovely life, and despite all the challenges, she managed to pass away gracefully and beautifully.”
• Then-Senator Barack Obama of the United States said “Coretta Scott King died peacefully in her sleep, but she was far from alone.
She was surrounded by the love and support of a loving family and a grateful nation, all of whom were moved by her cause, dedicated to her work, and saddened by her death. My condolences and thoughts are with her children today, and may she and her husband now rest in peace.”
• In response to her death, then-President George W. Bush remarked, “Mrs. King was a remarkable and courageous woman, as well as a powerful civil rights activist.
Mrs. King’s contributions to freedom and equality have improved America and made it more compassionate.”
• Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, released a statement “The United States and the rest of the world have lost a human rights champion.
Mrs. King was a trailblazer in the fight for equality and justice for all people of our country. One of our best instances of selfless dedication to the betterment of all Americans was her heroic stand behind Dr. King during a time of immense difficulty for America.”
• Jesse Jackson, a civil rights fighter, remarked “She learned to operate in the face of agony and continue to serve. As a freedom warrior, her legacy is safe, but her task is unfinished.”
• Al Sharpton, the Reverend, made a statement “Coretta Scott King’s death is a huge loss for the United States and the rest of the globe. She was the true pioneer of the civil rights movement.”
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