Bernice King urges celebration of mom Coretta Scott King on MLK Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is usually focused on celebrating the life and legacy of the late civil rights icon.

But on Twitter Monday, King’s daughter asked her followers to take a moment to recognize the woman who stood by the Rev. Martin Luther King.

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“Please join me in celebrating my mother, #CorettaScottKing,” Bernice King tweeted Jan. 20. “She founded @TheKingCenter, a memorial & nonviolence training center, less than 3 months after my father was assassinated.  And she was diligent in her pursuit of #MLKDay.

“She is the architect of the King Legacy,” she added.

In a follow-up tweet, Bernice King, CEO of the King Center, added that her mother was told she ought to say home by some men in the civil rights movement.

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“Some men in the movement and in other leadership positions told her to stay home while they continued the work,” she said. “But my mother was a peace advocate and activist before she met my father. She was married to the man and to the movement.”

Already a member of the NAACP, Coretta Scott King wed Martin Luther King Jr. in 1953. After the minister decided to launch his non-violent movement, his wife stood by him.

Following Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 assassination, Coretta Scott King carried on his legacy. In addition to serving as the architect behind the King Center, she lobbied for the federal holiday honoring her spouse; it’s now celebrated annually.

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Several Twitter users heeded Bernice King’s call and recognized the minister’s mother, who died in 2006.