As we start tonight's program, we're going to start with the lift every voice and singing. We invite
you to certainly stand and sing along with us. Lift every voice and sing. Lift every voice and sing,
till earth and heaven
Sing with the heart.
Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Good evening, everyone. How are you doing out there? Good to see you guys
look beautiful out there. Well, those are some amazing voices. Can we give it up for them again, please?
They sound so good. They sound the way that we think we sound when we sing out loud in the car or in
the shop. We don't sound like that at all. But thankfully, we'll be hearing from them again since they're
part of the African American Choral Ensemble.
who will be gracing us with more beautiful performances tonight, directed by the remarkable Dr.
Raymond Weiss. So please give them another round of applause. So my name is Brittany Talisa King. I'm
a member of the MLK Birthday Celebration Commission Board, and I am thrilled to be your emcee for tonight.
So on behalf of the hosts, city of Bloomington, we're grateful you're all here. Give yourselves a round
of applause.
There's gonna be a lot of round of applause tonight, just so you guys know, so your hands will stay
warm and cozy. But on a serious note, tonight we've gathered for a very special occasion to commemorate
a movement that's changed all of our lives. A movement that fought for the rights of black Americans
spearheaded by the one and only Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And let's be clear, United States will look
very different right now if it wasn't for the tireless fight of the revolutionaries and the activists
of the civil rights movement.
However, as you can see by tonight's event title, Soul, Spirit, and Sacrifice, honoring the legacy of
Coretta Scott King and the women who faced America to save us and us being an acronym for United States.
We wanted to focus this year's program on uplifting the unsung heroes of this era, the black women.
These women were the wives, the sisters, the organizers, the teachers, the activists, the church mothers,
the friends, the daughters, the aunties,
and the women who gave their lives to challenge the injustices to ensure that we lived in a more free
country than they did. Tonight's event will also honor the very woman who stood right next to Dr.
King Jr., who he described as resilient and essential to his life's work, the bold and courageous Coretta
Scott King. If you don't know already, Coretta was a scholar and a writer in her own right.
In 1965, she published an essay titled The Negro Woman's Guide to a New Way of Life, an essay that she
personally mailed to her good friend Rosa Parks before it was received by the world. I just wanted to
add that fun fact in there. I love that she wanted her sister friend to get the scoop before anyone
else did. But in the essay, she expressed that it's the women that's been the backbone and the soul
of the civil rights movement, and it's the women who made it possible for the movement to be a massive one.
And just so everyone knows, because I don't think everyone knows this fact, it's because of Coretta's
leadership that we now have a holiday to honor and commemorate Dr. King's legacy, a task that took her
over 20 years of her life, over two decades to accomplish. So we're all able to gather in this historic
theater together with our friends and family because of Coretta Scott King.
If you arrived here before the event, you may have saw a presentation of 20 historic women who were
impacted by the civil rights movement, or who impacted the civil rights movement. Women like Daisy Bates,
the Arkansas NAACP president, who also helped mentor the Little Rock Nine, who famously integrated into
a black and white high school. Or Merrill Joe Reagan, one of the Freedom Ride revolutionaries who helped
change the landscape of America.
These women's actions open the door for women today, like Ayanna Presley or Stacey Abrams or Jasmine
Crockett, to continue to face America and challenge it to simply be better and do better. These are
just some of the historic women that will be recognized tonight, along with celebrating Bloomington's
women of the movement, who are making, as the late great Congressman John Lewis would say, who is also
one of my heroes, good trouble for all of us here locally, and we thank you for it.
So we'll recognize these ladies later this evening. But for right now, please sit back and relax. We
have a packed experience for you tonight. You're going to hear more selections from the amazing
IU African-American Choral Ensemble, encouraging words from beloved community leaders. The mayor will
present this year's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award. And of course, we will witness an inspiring
keynote from the brilliant Dr. Tracy Parker. Last and tried and true fashion,
In the spirit of working smarter, not harder, did you guys hear that there's an IU game happening today?
I heard something about it, I don't know. Go Hoosiers. So there's actually gonna be that streaming after
this event. The Buskirk Chumbly has arranged it so that we don't have to go anywhere, we can not lose
our parking spots, get some popcorn, and we're gonna watch them win. So look at God working in our behalf.
Thank you, Lord.
He always has us, yes. So we're going to keep the show moving, and welcome back to the stage, the IU
African American Choral Ensemble, led by Dr. Raymond Wise. I'm Dr. Raymond Wise. This is the African
American Choral Ensemble. We're certainly glad to be with you for the MLK celebration this year. And
as we think about the celebration, one of the key points of that celebration was hope.
There was always a sense that things could always get better. And that is still what we have to hang
on to today. We're going to sing a song that just, ooh, child, things are going to get easier. Things
are going to get brighter. And we want to encourage, if you know the song that was originally recorded
by the five stair steps, that if you know it, sing along with us, clap along with us, tap along with
us. But that is the hope that we have, that one day, in spite of all the chaos and craziness that goes
on in our world, that things will get better. Ooh, child, things are going to get better. Enjoy.
Sang. Let's just be clear. There's a difference between singing and singing. In the black American community,
there's a colloquialism we like to use called sang. And if we use that, that's translation for you understood
the assignment and you understood your key, which is not easy to do. So they were amazing. I forgot
I was in church. Goodness. So I must mention that this ensemble will be celebrating its 50th anniversary
at IU. Yes.
So let's please be sure to support their events, including their special 50th anniversary concert on
February 21st. And then you can learn more about this ensemble along with other African American Institute
ensembles, the African American Dance Company, and the IU Soul Review by visiting their website and
social media pages. And you can see it all on the screen. So take a photo, save in your calendar. Let's
support them.
So right now, we are transitioning into the heart of why we're here. In honor of this year's theme,
the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration Commission has chosen to uplift local women whose
leadership and advocacy have helped shape Bloomington. The women on the screen, as you can see here,
and the women in this room, represent a small reflection of a larger movement in the city. These women
have dedicated years
even decades of their lives to ensure that people like us in Bloomington are thriving, are safe, and
have the opportunity to succeed in all aspects of their lives. They do it all from educating the next
generations to serving in public office to supporting our unhoused neighbors, which needs major support
right now, mentoring the youth, combating food insecurity, and strengthening families and communities
every single day.
Coretta Scott King once stated that the greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the
compassionate actions of its members. So by Coretta's own words and by that measurement, Bloomington
is great in part because of the actions of these local women. The named and the unnamed, the more visible
ones are the ones more behind the scenes. No matter the capacity of their work, it's all important and
they're changing the city.
So if you're one of these women, of the local women of the movement, invited here this evening to be
recognized, can you please stand at this time if you can?
Angela Davis once said that you have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world.
And these local women strive forward with a defiant belief like Angela that day by day needles toward
progress will move even if they're setback after setback after setback in their lives. Nevertheless,
they push forward. Tonight we give these women their flowers. We acknowledge you, we uplift you, and
we have your back.
We want you to know that we thank you for everything that you do for Bloomington, making it a stronger
and more just community. Can we give them another round of applause? Thank you. Thank you, everyone.
Your round of applause just keep getting better and better. You guys are on it. Before we continue,
we must thank our underwriters, sponsors, contributors,
supporters who make this event possible because it takes a village as we all know. So thank you to our
supporters and contributors, Bloomington Monastery School, the IU Credit Union, the Media School of
Indiana University, Monroe County Branch NAACP, Old National Bank, and the United Way of South Central
Indiana. And then for our major underwriters, Charlie and Jennifer Nelms, and the City of Bloomington.
You all know what to do. Can we give them a round of applause? Also, we would like to extend a special
thank you to the staff of the Busker Trimbley
Chumbly Theater, and the director Steve Forsoff, and the many years of collaboration with the community
and the Family Resources Department to produce this beloved MLK event every single year. And every single
year, personally for me, every time I've come to this event, the staff and everyone involved has been
so kind. So can we give it up for them too? And finally,
We would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge all the elected officials who are with us tonight.
And as we know, Dr. King challenged many politicians throughout his career to create groundbreaking
legislation that supported the civil rights and the human rights of all Americans. We are grateful to
our elected officials who fight to actualize Dr. King's vision in our community. So if there's any elected
officials here, past or present, can you please stand to be recognized at this time?
Thank you. Now, let's welcome back to the stage Dr. Raymond Wise and the Sangin African-American Choral
Ensemble. Sangin, yes. My amen chord over here. Thank you. I will give you an offering. Following their
performance, we'll be joined by the Mayor Kerry Thompson, who will be presenting this year's Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Legacy Award of 2026. Can we welcome back the ensemble on stage?
As the choir is coming, we're going to sing two selections for you. The first one is actually a spiritual,
concert spiritual, entitled Somebody's Knocking at Your Door. Many of you know anything about the African
American spirituals. You know that they were songs of faith, they were songs of hope, but they were
also songs of communication. They were songs that allowed enslaved African Americans to send messages
to encourage them to know that they could run away to freedom and they could have a better life. Well,
this song just says, listen, because somebody's knocking at your door.
that was a sign for them to listen for the knock. And the knock was a sign that it was time to move.
It was time to change. But as we think of our world today, there's some knocking going on. But are we
listening? It's time for us to change. It's time for us to move. So as we share this spiritual, we hope
that you're encouraged to listen for the knock of the world that's calling us to service and to a better
place for humanity. Somebody's knocking at your door. Enjoy.
Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen Somebody's knocking at your door, listen
Somebody's knocking at your door, listen, listen, listen, Lawson Why don't you answer? Somebody's knocking
at your door, listen Sounds like Jesus Somebody's knocking at your door, listen Sounds like Jesus Somebody's
knocking at your door, listen, listen, listen, Lawson
Somebody's knocking at your door, listen. Somebody's knocking at your door, listen. Why don't you answer?
Somebody's knocking at your door, listen. Somebody's knocking at your door, listen. Why don't you answer?
Somebody's knocking at your door, listen.
Somebody's knocking at your door. Somebody's knocking at your door. Somebody's knocking at your door.
Somebody's knocking at your door.
Before we sing our next election, I'd like to let you know that this year we're excited
that the African-American Choral Ensemble is celebrating its 50-year anniversary. And in celebration,
acknowledgement of that anniversary, we are going to have a wonderful celebration. Coming up on Saturday,
February the 21st, we're going to be having a concert that will feature over 100 ACE alumni coming back
to Bloomington to sing at the MAC. We're going to do a concert in the MAC auditorium
So put that on your calendar. It's going to be a wonderful event. And our directors, our living directors,
are going to be coming back. They're going to be with us. It's going to be a great, great celebration.
So we invite you to be a part of that celebration as well. The next song that we're going to sing is
actually written by our musician, Bobby Davis Jr. And we're going to have Brother Bobby Davis and Darren
Collins, who are serving as musicians with us this evening. And this song is entitled, Lead with Love.
And when you begin to look at our interactions in the world, we have a choice with what we lead with.
Sometimes I talk about playing cards as you have a deck. Which card are you going to play? And sometimes
we play cards that are not always the cards that bring unity and bring hope. But we encourage you to
lead with love. I think Dr. King said that hate will not cast out hate. Only love will cast out hate.
Darkness will not cast out darkness, only light will cast out darkness. So as we celebrate this day,
we want to encourage you that as you interact with people in your sphere and in your circle, think about
leading with love. It's a choice. We can choose to lead with love or we can lead with hate. But if we
lead with love, we might just make a difference. So we encourage you to leave this place and be encouraged
to lead with love. Enjoy.
ensemble, one more round of applause. Aren't they awesome? Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Wise for your leadership
and for the tremendous asset that you bring here to Bloomington. It is my great honor to be with you
tonight as we honor the lives and the legacies of Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King.
and the countless other civil rights leaders. Here in our community, tonight, we celebrate this cherished
Bloomington tradition. We do this each year to recognize the many individuals across our city who exemplify
Dr. King's values and teachings, the King family and the entire civil rights movement.
because they remind us that progress is not inevitable. It is achieved through service, sacrifice, and
the courage to stand up for what is right in the face of justice. Their vision of a world where equality,
dignity, and opportunity exist for all people challenges us still.
especially in times like today, when division and prejudice persist. Today, we reflect not only on how
far we have come, but on the work that still remains. We recommit ourselves to building communities
rooted in fairness, mutual respect, and understanding. And we turn our words into action by serving
our neighbors,
uplifting the marginalized and choosing love over hate. These are the beliefs that propelled the conversation
around racial equality into our shared social consciousness in the 1960s. And they are what will lead
our community into 2026 and beyond as we work together toward a Bloomington that works for all people.
It's important that I know that my expectation in our city is that our city works for all people in
ways that many other places are not working for all people in the United States today. This is a moment
where we can and we must choose to be different.
And I want to take a moment to celebrate a milestone that we have achieved in our community because
we have legislators now here in the city and county who are ready to write that groundbreaking legislation.
And they are led for the first time by black presidents of both the city and county council together
Isak Asari and Jennifer Crossley, I know you're both here. I've at least heard Isak. Can we give them
a hand and thank them for leading Bloomington? There they are. We have great trust in you and the leadership
that you will continue
provide for our community. I am now thrilled to present the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award
to a Bloomington resident who lives these values every single day. She has contributed to our community's
well-being in countless ways through research, documentation, volunteer coordination, and organizational
leadership.
As a member of the Monroe County chapter of the NAACP, she led an effort to document decades of racial
disparities in the Monroe County criminal justice system and supported students involved in developing
an anti-racism policy for MCCSC.
With the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington's Racial Justice Task Force, she organized Indiana
Black History Tours to the West Baden First Baptist Church and Crispus Atticus High School in Indianapolis.
She is also a regular volunteer at the Neal Marshall Black Culture Center, where she helped welcome
hundreds of people from across the country to Indiana University's campus. Ruth Ite.
This award is yours. Congratulations.
Thank you, community. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you to the Commission for this award. Knowing some of
the past recipients and their lifelong work in the areas of race relations, justice, and human rights,
it is an especially great honor to be here today. So many in our community give tirelessly to advance
racial equity and justice and to foster belonging.
Over the past few years, I have supported some of their efforts with varying degrees of energy, competence,
and cluelessness. The more I learn, the more I realize the scope of what I don't know and have been
conditioned not to see in the past and in the present. And yet, I'm receiving this award.
I will share some of my journey and I hope it inspires others to support the individuals and organizations
who disproportionately carry out the work for racial equity and justice, work that benefits us all.
Thanks to Guy Lofman who nominated me for this award and even more so for his introduction to the Monroe
County NAACP, my initial link there.
NAACP events, such as the one next Sunday with Dr. Charlie Noms, offer powerful opportunities for community
learning and conversation. Through the NAACP, I heard from local black students about the racial
discrimination and bullying they were experiencing and about their efforts to develop an anti-racism policy.
This was my introduction not only to these incredible student leader activists, but also to many caring
educators who do so much to support all students. Their work is not getting easier. My involvement with
the NAACP connected me to Dr. Gloria Howell, Director of the Neal Marshall Black Culture Center at IU,
among many other hats.
I have experienced firsthand how Dr. Glow is a true ambassador, bridging town and gown and fostering
community and belonging. What an honor and a joy it has been to help at some of the culture center events
alongside the dedicated and caring staff and remarkable students.
I have been amazed by the scope of the center's work supporting students and offering cultural engagement
opportunities. I encourage you, if you haven't already done so, to learn more about all they do and
to support their efforts. You can drop off non-perishable food items and hygiene products, or you can
become an event sponsor or a donor in other ways.
My connection to the Neil Marshall raised my awareness of other IU culture centers, of the Black Film
Center and Archive, and of the African American Arts Institute. In addition to their vital role with
students, they enriched my life and yours through their programming and performances as we are experiencing
here tonight. Oh, now I've lost my place. There we go.
Please do all you can to ensure that these centers and institutes receive full funding, what they deserve.
Continuing my journey through the UU Racial Justice Task Force, I and others are honored to help support
the work of another community treasure, Resilience Productions.
This theatrical company was formed 10 years ago by Dr. Gladys Devane, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Danielle
Bruce. Their original live performances and talkbacks raise awareness and celebrate the contributions
of African Americans to our city, state, and country. These women, through resilience productions and
their many other endeavors, have been instrumental in my learning.
There are many others who share their stories and work tirelessly for a better world for all. Many,
many of you who are here today. I ask, please do more than thank them. Listen to what they are saying.
Consider what gifts and talents you might contribute. If you're a bit clueless like me, take advantage
of books and podcasts and other community groups to advance your learning.
Especially as racial equity and justice are under active attack, you and I and our community have to
do work together. In closing, I want to acknowledge and thank my husband, Vaughn Welch, who supports
me in this work and contributes so much himself. Thank you.
for this honor. Thank you very much.
we give our award winner one more thunderous round of applause? So hello everyone, my name is Ramir
Williams and I am proud to have received the 2025 Outstanding Black Leader of Tomorrow award from the
Commission on the Status of Black Males. This award
This award highlights the outstanding contributions made by young African-American men and women in
our community through leadership, scholarship, and involvement. Receiving the award affirmed my commitment
to leadership rooted in service, mentorship, and impact. The recognition was especially meaningful because
it reflected not only my individual efforts, but also my dedication to uplifting the community, honoring
those who paved the way,
and investing in the next generation of leaders. With that being said, nominations for the 2026 Outstanding
Black Leaders of Tomorrow Awards are now being accepted. We invite you to nominate a young person who
inspires you. The 2026 deadline for nominations is February 1st. Again, February 1st. These awards are
to be presented during the Black History Month Gala,
on February 28th. To submit a nomination, please go to bloomington.in.gov forward slash BHM or scan
the QR code that is shown on the screen. Now, speaking of Black History Month, 2026 marks the centennial
celebration of the Black History Month here in the United States. The centennial celebration.
The city's Black History Month planning committee is excited to bring you a full lineup of programs,
including all of the events that you see listed here on the slide. To learn more about these events,
please visit bloomington.in.gov forward slash BHM. Now, are y'all ready for the main event? I'm going
to ask again, are y'all ready for the main event? I know I am.
To help us introduce this year's keynote speaker, I would like to welcome to the stage Dr. Olivia A.
Kay. Good evening. I'm here to introduce our speaker, Dr. Tracy Parker, historian, speaker, and author
whose work examines African-American history, civil rights, and the intersections of consumer culture
and social justice. An associate professor of history at the University of California Davis, she is
the author of Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement and is the co-editor of the New Civil
Rights Movement Reader. Her forthcoming book, Revolutionary Love, explores intimacy and radical politics
in the black freedom struggle.
She is also at work on a long overdue biography of Coretta Scott King, drawing on rare archival sources.
Busy lady. I'm sure it would surprise no one that the previous list I just mentioned is only a fraction
of the work Dr. Parker has accomplished. You can read a more exhaustive list of her accomplishments
in your program. Please do.
Where am I? Rather than list more of her wondrous work, I'd actually like to take a moment and speak
about my graduate school advisor and friend. I met Dr. Parker in the fall of 2015, my second year of
graduate school at UMass Amherst. It didn't take long for word to spread around our tiny department
about Tracy Parker, Dr. Tracy Parker. UC Chicago graduate and student of the renowned historian Dr.
Thomas C. Holt
Those first few weeks, it was almost impossible to catch Dr. Parker for a chat. Students were literally
lined up outside of her office to talk to her. Real story. As one of her teaching assistants that fall
semester, I had the opportunity to watch Parker in action in the classroom. Watching her captivate a
180-person lecture hall with her enthusiasm, emphasizing the significance of history for her students,
was inspiring.
I was determined to fashion myself a scholar in her likeness. And she quickly became my mentor and advocate
as I pushed through my own graduate school journey. But rather than mold me into a historian exactly
like herself, she taught me how to be a historian like me. That lady. OK, I'm not going to get emotional.
Today, Dr. Parker is here to speak to us in honor of Coretta Scott King, a more than fitting choice.
Alongside her forthcoming biography of Scott King, Dr. Parker's historical research and pedagogy has
always centered the voices and experiences of women, especially black women, and their contributions
to the texture of U.S. history. It is my pleasure to welcome my mentor and friend, Dr. Tracy Parker.
Thank you, Olivia. I was not expecting to cry today. That was very sweet. It has been a pleasure being
here today. I wasn't expecting to go to church. I wasn't expecting to learn so much about the community.
So I thank you all for having me. And it really is a pleasure to be here. Sorry, I'm at that point in
life. Yes.
Today marks 40 years since the nation first observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday.
This commemoration did not come by chance. It was forged through tireless work of Coretta Scott King,
who after her husband's assassination turned mourning into movement, traveling the country,
lobbying Congress, and uniting civil rights leaders, labor activists, clergy, and artists behind a bill
to create a national holiday.
Even after the bill was signed, Scott King did not consider the struggle complete. She went on to chair
the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission, determined to ensure the holiday honored not
only King's life, but also the principles that guided it, nonviolence, justice, and collective
responsibility. Next slide, please. Martin Luther King Day is thus not merely a memorial to a leader.
It is a testament to Coretta Scott King's leadership
activism and unwavering commitment to justice. And yet Coretta is often forgotten on this holiday. If
she's thought of or mentioned, it is only as his wife and widow, as only Mrs. Martin Luther King. But
she was more than Mrs. King. She was also Coretta. In her 2017 autobiography, she writes, quote, how
one became detached from the other remains a mystery to me.
Most people who have followed my career from afar or even given me a second thought know me as Mrs.
King. The wife of, the widow of, the mother of, the leader of, makes me sound like the attachments that
come with my vacuum cleaner. In one sense, I don't mind that at all. I'm proud to have been a wife,
a single parent, and a leader. But I am more than a label. I am also Coretta. So today, I want to tell
you a bit about Coretta. Next slide.
Long before she met Martin, Coretta had already forged a life shaped by political engagement and activism.
Coretta Scott came of age in Jim Crow, Alabama, where racial segregation, discrimination, and violence
shaped daily life. As a teenager, she saw white supremacists burn her family's home and later destroy
her father's business for daring to remain independent. Yet her family rebuilt again and again.
From her father, Obadiah Scott, who owned his own land, a lumber yard, and later a grocery store, Coretta
learned inner fortitude, how to endure injustice without surrendering dignity or purpose. From her mother,
Bernice Marie Scott, she learned the importance of education and was encouraged to aim for a life beyond
being just a wife and a mother. Her mother told her, quote, if you get an education and try to be somebody,
you won't have to depend on anyone, not even a man.
As a child, Coretta excelled academically at Lincoln Normal School, a segregated teacher's college founded
by former slaves in Alabama. In 1947, she carried her brilliance north to Antioch College in Yellow
Springs, Ohio, where she majored in music and elementary education, hoping to find opportunity beyond
the confines of Jim Crow.
At Antioch, she became politically active while confronting the limits of Northern liberalism and came
to understand that peace was inseparable from justice. Without justice, there is no peace. Coretta was
the college's first black student majoring in elementary education. To complete the major, she was required
to teach both at a private and a public school. She completed the private school placement without incident.
But when it came time to teach in the public schools in Yellow Springs, she was denied solely because
of her race. She took her case to the college administrators and the president. They backed the local
school board's decision, telling her that black and white students should not mix. Even at a self-proclaimed
liberal institution, the door of opportunity was closed to her. Eventually, she was given two choices,
go teach at a distant segregated school or repeat a year at the private school.
Coretta refused segregation and criticized the college's moral failure. She said this was the moment
that pushed her into a life of social and political activism. Coretta soon became active in
campus organizations for racial justice and peace. She met Bayard Rustin and embraced his philosophy
of nonviolence. And she began to see herself as a pacifist.
By 1948, she had entered national politics campaigning for Henry Wallace's Progressive Party, a third
party challenge to Harry Truman and Thomas Dewey that advocated ending segregation, expanding voter
rights for black Americans, providing universal health care, and opposing Cold War militarism.
Coretta was among 150 black delegates at the Progressive Party Convention in Philadelphia, where she
heard activist and writer Shirley Graham, later Shirley Graham Du Bois, deliver a powerful indictment
of war, racism, and American hypocrisy. Later in Cleveland, she met Paul Robeson and sang for him, a
moment she cherished for the rest of her life. By the time Coretta met Martin, she was already an organizer,
a dissenter, and a woman who knew how to challenge injustice even when the cost was high.
Next slide. After graduating from Antioch with degrees in education and music, Coretta Scott moved to
Boston in the fall of 1951 to study at the New England Conservatory of Music, one of the most prestigious
music schools in the country. In the second semester of her first year, a mutual friend served as matchmaker,
setting her up with a young PhD student from Atlanta. That young man, as you can guess, was Martin Luther
King, Jr., or ML King, as they called him at Boston University.
Now, Coretta had dreams of her own, right? She was ready to pursue music and social justice, and she
was not worried about a man, especially a minister. And she had no desire to date at that point, date
or marry at that point in time in her life. Still, she eventually agreed to go on a date with him. Now,
this is the thing. She tells this story about she, he gives her a phone call. Her friend calls her and
said, can I give you his phone number? He calls and she says,
What she remembered of that phone call is that he was speaking intellectual jive, is what she called
him. He said something to the effect of, I'm Napoleon, and I want you to be my Waterloo. Let me just
say, she was not very impressed, but she agreed to go on a date with him. The next day, he picks her
up in his green Chevy truck while she's standing outside at the conservatory. And it's slightly raining.
And she gets in the car, and she looks him up and down, and he looks her up and down. And she's thinking,
oof, he's short. He's thinking, oh, she's gorgeous. He's commenting on her dress and her hair. And she's
like, oh, well, it's just one date, right?
At the restaurant, they chat easily about everything from questions of war and peace, to racial and
economic justice, to capitalism versus communism. And after one hour, Martin became convinced that Coretta
was meant to be his wife. She, on the other hand, wasn't even sure she wanted a second date with the
man. She did say, however, that the more they spoke at that lunch, the more charming she found him.
and the taller he grew in her eyes. She was so impressed by the fact Martin was unlike other ministers
that she had come to know he was broad-minded, he was very intelligent, and he was committed to a life
of service. As you know, they then marry on June 18, 1953, about a year and a half after their paths
first intertwined. Ever independent and progressive,
Coretta rejected convention at her wedding. She didn't wear a traditional white dress. She chose a blue
waltz-length gown with matching lace gloves and shoes, blue representing the color of freedom. She insisted
on having the ceremony at her parents' home in Highberger, Alabama instead of a church. She removed
the word obey in any language implying submission to her husband from her vows.
I know, I love that, right? And in a final move that was just as revolutionary as the other ones, she
kept her maiden name in the line of the example set by her mother, Bernice McMurray Scott. Next slide,
please. Over the next 15 years, Martin Coretta built a life that she had envisioned, a union of shared
purpose where both could pursue their dreams while standing side by side in the fight for justice. But
doing so was challenging.
In the early years of marriage, Martin and Coretta made their home in Boston a city alive with academic
energy and ambition. While Martin poured himself into his dissertation, Coretta filled her days with
classes, pursuing her passion for voice and violin. Committed to achieving their academic goals and
supporting each other's ambitions, they created a home that defied traditional gender norms. Martin
did most of the housework and cooking, preparing southern favorites like oatmeal, pig feet,
smother cabbage, and collard greens, allowing Coretta the space and time to complete her degree.
Next slide. After graduating, the couple moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where Martin accepted a position
as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. On November 17, 1955, Martin and Coretta welcomed their first
child, Yolanda Denise King. Next slide. Just weeks later, the Montgomery bus boycott erupted.
Propelling Martin to the forefront of the emerging civil rights movement, the boycott plunged the kings
into constant danger. On the night of January 30, 1956, a bomb exploded at their home while Coretta,
their seven-week-year-old daughter, and a neighbor went inside. The front of the house was destroyed,
but no one was injured. Martin, who had been speaking at a mass meeting, rushed home to find a tense
crowd gathered outside, many armed but all determined to protect him and his family.
Obi Scott and his father, Daddy King, rushed to Montgomery, hearts pounding, and begged the couple to
leave the city. But it was Coretta, not Martin, who responded. With quiet strength, she stood her ground
and said they were where they belonged. Next slide. As the years passed, Martin became a national leader,
hustling from speech to speech, interview to interview, city to city, and protest to protest, while
Coretta helped craft his speeches and sermons. Next slide.
Amid this, the couple found time to expand their family with the births of Martin III in 1957,
Dexter in 1961, and Bernice in 1963. Yet as the family grew, so did Coretta's frustration. Her role
as wife and mother increasingly confined her to the home, and she longed for her own voice in the movement.
And so she insisted on taking more of an active role. Next slide.
And so she recalls an instance in her 2017 biography where she comes to Martin. She says, I want to
be more than a wife and a mother. I want to be active, more public, and more visible in the movement.
And he says, I have a calling to do this work. And she said, honey, I have a calling too. And he said,
are you unsatisfied with being my wife and mother of my children? And she said, it's not about you.
This is about me. Next slide. After this, Coretta became a public figure in both the civil rights and
peace movements. In 1961, she spoke out against war and nuclear weapons in Washington, DC. In 1962,
while Martin was immersed in the Albany campaign, she traveled to Geneva, Switzerland as the Women's
Strike for Peace delegate to the 17 Nation Disarmament Conference.
She became even more vocal on peace issues as US involvement in Vietnam escalated and joined the Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom. When Martin received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, she
pressed him to make the international dimension of their philosophy of nonviolence more prominent. Their
belief in nonviolence and commitment to human rights, she insisted, required speaking out on global
as well as domestic human rights.
By 1965, Coretta was spending more and more time away from home, deeply committed to these movements
and carving out her own powerful role in these causes. In March of 65, she began holding a series of
freedom concerts that helped the Southern Christian Leadership Conference stay financially afloat and
brought the movement's message to life through song and storytelling. In April, she traveled to Detroit
for a dinner honoring Rosa Parks, who despite her historic courage,
had faced hardship from finding steady work and had struggled with her health. Next slide. Coretta spoke
before the Women's International League for Peace in Chicago in May of 65, standing alongside other
voices calling for justice. Next slide.
On June 8th, two years before her husband's famous sermon against the Vietnam War at Riverside Church,
she addressed an anti-war rally at New York City's Madison Square Garden, the only woman to address
the crowd. More than 15,000 people gathered to hear her message of peace and resistance. Late in 1965,
when her husband backed out of an address in Washington, DC, peace rally, she kept her commitment to speak.
Following her appearance, a reporter asked Martin if he had educated his wife on these issues. Yes.
And he responded, she educated me. Martin and Coretta traveled a lot, but remained devoted to raising
their children. Coretta often felt deeply alone, especially when it came to caring for their children.
On August 6, 1965, Martin was in Washington watching
President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. Coretta was at home with her sons, Marty and Dexter,
who were both recovering from tonsil surgery. Martin was so busy that she hadn't even had time to tell
him about the operations. Years later, she recalled it was one of the few moments when she felt sorry
for herself. Supportive of his work, yet painfully aware of her own solitude. Still, she understood
her role in the freedom struggle meant helping her children accept that their father belonged to the world.
and could not always be the husband and father he wanted to be. Coretta also grasped the constant dread
of what each day might bring. She witnessed Martin's every wound, every arrest, every sleepless night.
Martin suffered from heavy depression throughout his life. And she shared the weight of his battles
while facing her own deep-seated fears for her family's safety. To make matters more challenging, rumors
swirled that he was unfaithful.
The FBI once mailed an audio tape of poor quality that allegedly recorded Martin's secret liaisons with
girlfriends. That day, Coretta listened to the tape and quickly dismissed it as the agency's attempt
to break up their marriage and embarrass and compel Martin to commit suicide. Next slide. Through it
all, Martin and Coretta remained steadfast in their commitment to each other and the movement.
with Coretta's quiet strength anchoring both their family and the struggle, even as danger pressed in
on all sides. The last campaign they were building when he was assassinated was the Poor People's Campaign,
a multiracial effort to demand economic justice, advocating for jobs, fair wages, and improved living
conditions for impoverished Americans through a massive protest in Washington, DC. But before he had
a chance to attend the Poor People's Campaign in DC,
Martin Luther King was shot on April 4, 1968, and killed as he walked onto the balcony at the Lorraine
Motel in Memphis. Martin's assassination crushed Coretta, but it didn't break her. So even as she mourned
her husband, she carried on. Four days after his death, she marched with nearly 50,000 people in support
of the Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike for better wages and working conditions.
She was crucial to advancing the Poor People's Campaign even as her husband's former male collaborators
sought to silence and marginalize her. She and other women leaders and activists would dominate the
campaign's 1968 march in Washington, DC. On March 1st, Coretta launched a southern caravan of Poor People's
Campaign from the same balcony where her husband was murdered and sang Sweet Little Baby Boy, Sweet
Little Jesus Boy.
She also declared her own dream at this event, where she stated, where not some but all God's children
have food, where not some but all God's children have decent housing, where not some but all God's children
have a guaranteed annual income in keeping with the principles of liberty and grace. Next slide. Less
than two weeks later, during the Mother's Day March of Welfare Recipients, which was part of the Poor
People's Campaign,
She criticized the hypocrisy of a society where violence against poor people and minority groups is
routine. She reminded the nation of its own acts of violence. Quote, neglecting school children is violence.
Punishing a mother and her family is violence. Ignoring medical needs is violence. Contempt for poverty
is violence. Even the lack of willpower to help humanity is a sick and sinister form of violence.
I have to say I re-read that for today and I just thought how much it still resonates. In June of 1968,
Scott spoke to the attendees of the Poor People's Campaign in DC and said, quote, women, if the soul
of the nation is to be saved, you must become its soul. Women, she elaborated, must speak out against
the evils of our time as you see them and must compel governments to put an end to every sort of persecution.
Next slide. Coretta Scott King was a wife and a mother and the steward of her husband's legacy. But
she was also unmistakably a political activist in her own right. Next slide. In the years after his
death and until her own in 2006, she devoted her life to institutionalizing his memory and mission.
founding the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change in 1968, and helping to secure the
federal King holiday in 1986. She also championed peace in women's rights. She forcefully criticized
American capitalism and championed labor rights, as she and Dr. King always had, and became an outspoken
advocate for LGBT rights, insisting that gays and lesbians should have just as much legal protections
as any other group.
She supported the Equal Rights Amendment and feminist organizations. Next slide. During the 1980s and
90s, Coretta advocated ending apartheid in South Africa by encouraging American companies to divest
using the center as a forum for political mediation among South African political parties and visiting
the country in 1986 to meet with leaders there, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Next slide.
She urged wealthy Western nations to cancel Africa's immoral and unjust debt. Next slide. In short,
Coretta Scott was a revolutionary figure whose legacy cannot be confined to who she was to Martin, but
must be understood through what she demanded of America and the world. Today, as we honor king, or rather
the kings, let us carry forward their unfinished work.
In moments of darkness, may we choose courage. In the face of injustice, may we refuse indifference.
And in our lives, may we become what they were, freedom fighters committed to justice for all. Thank you.
Let's thank Dr. Parker one more time for that riveting presentation. We want to thank you for uncovering
and unveiling the courage, the confidence, and the complexity of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. And we look
forward to your work.
And if you would be interested in hearing more from Dr. Parker, she will be back in Bloomington for
the Soul Symposium from April 9th through the 11th at Indiana University. So please visit the
MLK Commission's table in the outer lobby to pick up a flyer with more information. So for tonight's
closing reflection,
The commission is delighted to welcome a friend and former local pastor, Philip Amerson. Philip Amerson
is president emeritus of Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. His work spans
nearly six decades as writer, pastor preacher, civil rights advocate,
and theological educator in multiple places across our nation. Please welcome Reverend Philip Amerson.
Wow. Dr. Parker, thank you so much. What a wonderful gift.
What a wonderful thing. And my goodness, I was going to recognize everyone this evening, but there's
a football game coming, so I won't do that. But Ruth, thank you. Thank you. And Ramir Williams.
I hope the world has another 10 or 12 of you we need. We need you so much. Okay. Might we wage peace?
Stony the road. Vacuum cleaner attachment, no. Not a minister.
I have a calling too. No, she educated me. Thanks to Dr. Parker for this extraordinary gift, these insights
of the essential role played by Coretta Scott King. A few of you will remember her visit to Bloomington in 1997.
Some of us were there. I remember I witnessed this awe-inspiring generative wisdom, this courageous
woman who was speaking even then about that triple threat of poverty, militarism, and racism. Her legacy endures.
Now, some would say that our nation has entered, well, I would say, a new ice age. The actions of our
state legislature and some in the university administration even make this a slice and dice age, where
academic freedom and civil liberties are threatened, where centers and institutes
know that their funding is ever more fragile as racism continues to raise its ugly head in the state
house. Obviously, bluntly there. In his last book, Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community, Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. noted that
Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words,
too late. He glimpsed the future. Well, I should say they glimpsed the future in which we now live.
He identified poverty, militarism, and racism as she taught him to.
the triple threats for a beloved community. From the reduction of SNAP and Medicaid programs to the
tragic end of USAID, hundreds of thousands, make that millions, of our sisters and brothers will face
an earlier death or an extended debilitating illness. War ravages across this world.
with military action in Venezuela and threats to Greenland? Takeover. And then there are the obscene
brutal treatment of immigrants, even native-born citizens. And one wonders, is it too late?
In a few minutes, the IU football team will play for the national championship.
I live to see it. And I'm a Chicago Cubs fan. We are thrilled that that team composed of young men from
a wide variety, think of it, of racial and ethnic and language groups who've learned how to play as
a team together
and represent this university so well. And it's a university where one wonders about the way academic
resources are now being undercut, so that the hard-won gains in addressing systemic racism are being
lost. Those same young men that know how to work together
have to go to class not sure that they'll hear the whole story. As Dr. King said, the Jim Crow checking
account has been marked with insufficient funds. And some of us, and I would include myself, have discovered
that Jim Crow never really ended. It's just below the surface.
and now so much more obvious. Well, this was a hard thing for me to say, and I don't mean to be negative.
As a matter of fact, I think, um-chah, there will be a brighter day is right. I think there was a time
before the Ice Age, and there will be a time after the Ice Age. So in closing,
As we conclude, I want to remind you of four small words spoken by one of Coretta Scott King's friends.
Those words, you may do that. These may not sound like words that would fan the flames of change, but
uttered by the small Rosa Parks
Shortly after 5 p.m. on December the 1st, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, were explosive words. I'm telling
you to move to the back of the bus or you will be arrested, the driver threatened. And the same scene
had played out 12 years earlier, if you don't know that history. This time, Mrs. Park simply and quietly said,
those four words. You may do that." She would later say, when I made that decision, I knew I had the
strength of my ancestors with me. She knew her majestic use of the word may instead of can, claimed
the high ground as protester, as demonstrator, and not as victim any longer.
Not one woman alone, there were now hundreds, tens of thousands, others sitting symbolically alongside
Mrs. Parks. In our time, in this place, faced with the brutality and sadistic behaviors of this Ice
Age, and these rogue border agents, and the betrayed
reality we face with this racist complicity of state, local, and national leaders. Can we learn to calmly
say, you may do that, but we know what we really mean. Might we wage peace as we continue to speak our
no, as we act and march together recalling the witnesses of
the Kings, both of them, and the intelligent, spunky actions of Mrs. Rosa Parks. This then is my prayer
for us as we leave this evening from Dr. and Mrs. King, Scott King. Keep moving with tender hearts and
tough minds. Keep moving.
with the courage to love.
That does conclude our program. I would like to thank you all for being here. As we transition to the
IU game, you may all stay in your seats or go help yourself to concessions. If you are saving your seat,
you can put your coat there. But again, safe travels and again, go IU and thank you all.