AJC.com > Breaking News > Archives > 2006 > February > 06
Monday, February 6, 2006
Evening service to feature legendary speakers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cold rain and rush hour traffic couldn’t stop mourners from packing the house at Horizon Sanctuary at Ebenezer Baptist Church this evening for a traditional memorial service honoring Coretta Scott King.
Expected speakers for the 7 p.m. event include Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, former U.S. Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and U.S. Rep. John Lewis
Earlier today, a musical tribute honored the widow of the famed civil rights leader.
Across Auburn Avenue, hundreds continue to stream into the old church’s Heritage Sanctuary to view Mrs. King, who will lie in honor until midnight.
The National Park Service said about 13,000 streamed through the church during the first six hours the doors were open to the public.
Prior to the evening’s service about 300 members of Mrs. King’s sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, adorned in striking white robes, filled Horizon Sanctuary with song.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Bush orders flags at half-staff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WASHINGTON — President Bush has ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff tomorrow in memory of Coretta Scott King.
Bush and former President Clinton will lead the dignitaries expected to attend her funeral tomorrow at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, where King’s youngest child, Bernice, is a minister.
The 78-year-old widow of Martin Luther King Junior died last week at an alternative medicine clinic in Mexico, where doctors said she was battling advanced ovarian cancer. She also had been recovering from a serious stroke and heart attack.
In a proclamation issued today, Bush said flags shall be lowered until sunset tomorrow at the White House and on all public buildings, U.S. naval vessels, military posts and embassies across the nation and abroad.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Thousands pay respects at Ebenezer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A solemn column of mourners filed into Ebenezer Baptist Church this morning to pay their respects to Coretta Scott King, whose body will lie in honor until midnight tonight at the famed Auburn Avenue church.
Hundreds tread the red carpet, passed the dark wooden pews, and, just below the pulpit where her husband once delivered fiery sermons, paid silent tribute to matriarch of the civil rights movement.
The National Park Service said about 13,000 mourners passed through Ebenezer between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Mrs. King’s bronze casket is gray with burgundy accents. She is dressed in pink. Above her, resting on an easel, is her portrait.
Jackie Treen, 51, an elections judge who flew in from Maryland, was visibly shaken and emotional after viewing the body of Mrs. King.
She said the values of Mrs. King “have to endure.”
“God bless her family and give them the strength to endure and carry on her legacy,” said Treen.
Treen said she felt inspired after the viewing.
“I’m honored to put my eyes on Coretta Scott King,” she said.
Beautine Baker, 73, a retired teacher from Plainfield, Ill., stood in the rain outside the church to view Mrs. King.
“If not for them, my school would not have been integrated,” said Baker.
She said today made her think of her own mortality. “We can’t be here forever, but I thank God I was alive when she was. We stood out in the rain. The young people — I was so proud to see them waiting their turn to see this courageous lady.”
Orlando Jones, 41, of Montgomery, Ala., waited five hours Saturday to see Mrs. King at the Capitol. He said he was at Ebenezer to share the experience with his wife.
“There will always be a stirring in my heart” for the message of Martin Luther King and his wife, said Jones. “Love, non-violence and racial equality.”
Jones said the Kings’ message is greatly needed today.
“With this hip-hop generation — they think about who’s has got gold teeth instead of the destiny of mankind. I still have a dream.”
Just before 11 a.m. hundreds of mourners stood in a viewing line that extended a block west of Ebenezer Church, then as they neared the church, they had to snake through four lines separated by barricades.
Purses were searched, but otherwise mourners were not screened before entering Ebenezer. Those arriving wore tennis shoes and high heels. Their clothing, from jogging suits to their Sunday best, glistened from standing outside in the rain.
Earlier this morning, Lynn Cothren, Mrs. King’s assistant, was the last King Center employee to file past the casket before the public was let into the church. Crying, he grabbed a tissue from a table as he came in.
A woman who called herself The Prophet Rev. Patricia struggled up the steps to the church. She said, “she had a dream and she followed the dream.
Beautine Burns, 73, who drove from Plainfield, Ill., with her 83-year-old husband, said she knew the Kings when they were in Chicago, “and I participated in the sit-ins and took food to the Kings.�
Burns, who was resting on a bench just before entering the sanctuary, had waited outside the church for an hour and a half.
Dorothy Miles of College Park struggled with a cane as she climbed the steps to the sanctuary. Miles, who was wearing running shoes, a black dress and a fur hat, said she came because, “I had no choice.�
After passing the casket, one mourner collapsed face-down in the aisle, wailing and sobbing.
Other mourners simply stepped around him until a National Park Service officer leaned over him and said “You can’t lie here man, you gotta get up.”
The man got up and walked out of the church.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Winfrey: King ‘leaves us all a better America’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey paid homage to “royalty” today at a musical tribute celebrating the life of Coretta Scott King.
After almost three hours of music, Winfrey climbed up to the pulpit, dressed in a black dress, pearls, and the purple memorial ribbon that many were wearing Monday.
“I’m happy to pay tribute to her,” Winfrey said, “but happier still to know that I gave her her flowers while she still lived. … To me, she embodied royalty. She was the queen.”
Winfrey chuckled, as did the congregation, recalling a show of hers Mrs. King had appeared on where she was supposed to get a makeover.
And she teared up, slightly, recalling a letter she received from Mrs. King a week before her death.
“Every time I spoke with her, I came away wiser,” Winfrey said. “She leaves us all a better America than the America of her childhood.”
When she finished, Winfrey, now crying openly, hugged the four King siblings seated up front.
The Kings’ daughter Yolanda King closed the tribute, thanking everyone - not just the people who had appeared in the sanctuary. She thanked everyone for their prayers, since Mrs. King had her stroke last year. “Those prayers carried us. They carried her,” King said.
The Musical Tribute at Ebenezer Baptist Church’s Horizon Sanctuary got under way about 12:25 p.m.
“The Black National Anthem admonishes us to lift every voice and sing,” said the Rev. Raphael G.Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer.
“And that is why we are here - to sing.”
After brief remark about Mrs. King’s love of music - she was a trained opera singer - and her place in American history, he led the estimated 2,000 people in attendance in the opening hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Singer Gladys Knight joined the King children on the front row. She hugged Martin Luther King III and Yolanda King and sat next to them.
Later, the native Georgian sang “Jesus is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.”
Also attending the services are Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin; activist Dick Gregory; Stephanie Hughley, of the National Blacks Arts Festival; Xernona Clayton, civil rights activist and founder of the Trumpet Awards, a longtime friend of Mrs. King.
A long list of performers captivated the large crowd.
Soprano Rebecca Cook Carter sang a slow and stately version of “The Lord’s Prayer,” which ended in a standing ovation.
The HBCU Quartet, a gospel group, wove traditional songs and words of praise into one tapestry, saying that Mrs. King is now with Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi and her late husband. “Like them, she kept the faith and did God’s will.” A few “Amens” echoed in the sanctuary.
Rebecca Cook Carter’s touching a capella rendition of The Lord’s Prayer brought hearty applause from mourners.
Resonance, a spoken word trio, also stirred mourners as they gave a modern beat to old-time spirituals like “I’m Building Me a Home” and “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round.”
“Coretta King gives illustration and new meaning to the song ‘Amazing Grace.’ That’s how she lived, and indeed, that’s how she left this Earth,” the Rev. J.W. Matt Hennesse, pastor of Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church in Portland, Ore., told mourners.
Rev. Kenneth Flowers from Detroit read Jeremiah 33:1-3, which read in part: “The Lord is His name. Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. This is the word of God for the people of God.”
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Sculptor remembers woman of hope
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Patrick Morelli cast about on the sidewalk across the street from Ebenezer Baptist Church looking like someone who wanted to talk to someone. He had flown in the night before from Denver to pay his respects to Coretta Scott King, he said. He had come out of the church a moment earlier.
The sculptor worked with King on the design for the 10-foot bronze statue across the street.
“Behold� shows a father holding a newborn son high over his head. It reflects the baptism ritual described in Alex Haley’s “Roots,� he said.
It also reflected Coretta Scott King’s character, he said. King was looking for a hopeful image in the sculpture, Morelli said. “By nature, she was hopeful,â€? he added.
The King Center couldn’t afford to pay for the work itself, he said. So he spent almost a decade raising $250,000 to build it.
They stood together as it was unveiled in 1990, he said. Morelli said he was incredibly grateful to King for her work, and for letting him work with her.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
King will use husband’s temporary mausoleum
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A crane dropped marble slabs into place in the grass while mourners filed out of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Four men with iron pry bars and shovels labored in the miserably cold rain, guiding the stone into place.
They cleared the wet grass to the bare earth to cover it with crushed rock and, eventually, Coretta Scott King’s temporary mausoleum, the same one Martin Luther King Jr. lay in for six years while the company prepared his permanent crypt.
Leland Lynch of Roberts-Shields Memorial Co. walked across the path behind Martin Luther King Jr.’s resting place to hold a yellow guide line. Coretta’s temporary mausoleum will lie in a tree-covered space a couple of dozen yards in front of her husband’s. Lynch lined up the empty space in the grass with her husband’s grave.
Coretta will rest high, Lynch said. Her mausoleum will be easily visible from Auburn Avenue, so people passing by the church can see it, he said. A few people leaving Ebenezer Baptist stopped to watch the workmen dig. Most walked by quickly to get out of the grim rain.
The temporary stone structure is a little bit smaller, and not as ornate as the one resting on a brick island in the reflecting pool, he said. The company kept it after he was moved, 30 years ago. A few months from now they will move his over a bit and she’ll rest in another tomb next to him.
Lynch left north Georgia last night to beat this morning’s snow fall in Calhoun. He said the rain in Atlanta wouldn’t slow them down. The work is too important, he said. He wished he could have brought his kids.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Famous names coming to funeral
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A sampling of the politicians, civil rights leaders and others who plan to attend Coretta Scott King’s funeral Tuesday in Atlanta:
— President George W. Bush. and first lady Laura Bush
— Former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
— Former President George H.W. Bush
— Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter
— Oprah Winfrey, television talk-show host
— Stevie Wonder, singer/musician
— Maya Angelou, poet/author
— Bebe Winans, gospel singer
— Ambassador Andrew Young, former lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr. who became a congressman, ambassador to the United Nations and mayor of Atlanta
— The Rev. Joseph Lowery, co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference along with King
— The Rev. Jesse Jackson, with King when he was assassinated and later formed the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
— Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., former head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who led the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, Ala.
— Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue
— Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
— Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.
— Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.
— Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.
— Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
— Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
— Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.
— Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
— Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.
— Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
— Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.
— Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.
— Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md.
— Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., the first black congresswoman elected from Georgia
— Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, the city’s first female mayor
— Zanele Mbeki, wife of South African President Thabo Mbeki
— Bishop T.D. Jakes, author/pastor of The Potter’s House, a 30,000-member Dallas megachurch.
— The Rev. Al Sharpton, civil rights activist
— Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.
— Malaak Shabazz, one of Malcolm X’s daughters
— Kweisi Mfume, former congressman and NAACP president
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Parking problems expected for funeral
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DeKalb County officials are encouraging those who plan to attend the funeral for Coretta Scott King — or the public viewing of her body Tuesday morning — to park at Stonecrest Mall.
A county news release says no parking will be available at the site of the funeral, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, for the morning public viewing, which is scheduled from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. For those not wishing to walk the three miles from the mall to the church, MARTA will run shuttle buses from the lower level parking lot outside Sears.
For the funeral, which is to begin at noon, the county encourages attendees to arrive early — but no earlier than 9:30 a.m. Again, parking at the mall is encouraged, and the MARTA shuttle will operate.
The church is just south of I-20, off Evans Mill Road. The mall is at exit 75, Turner Hill Road. The county says the state Department of Transportation will avoid closing any lanes at the construction site at I-20 and Wesley Chapel Road, just east of the I-285 interchange, to try to keep traffic moving.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to perform at funeral
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will frame the funeral of Coretta Scott King, performing at the beginning and the end of the service, to be held Tuesday at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia.
The opening number will be a mournful adagio (from a Bach orchestral suite) and at the end will come the “Hallelujah Chorus” (from Handel’s “Messiah”). ASO music director Robert Spano will conduct, joined by singers from the ASO Chorus, New Birth Missionary Church and other local choirs.
Mrs. King was a trained classical soprano and graduated from Boston’s New England Conservatory with a music education degree. On several occassions, when her health permitted, she took the stage with the ASO for its annual “A King Celebration.”
A tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and his civil-rights legacy, the “King Celebration” concerts were performed at Dr. King’s alma mater, Morehouse College, and broadcast nationally on National Public Radio. She did not sing at these events but instead read excerpts from her husband’s speeches or offered her own inspirational words.
Funeral organizers from the King Center contacted the ASO last week and invited the ensemble to perform, said Charlie Wade, ASO vice-president for marketing.
The musical selections were determined, in part, by the breadth of speakers and musical tributes scheduled for the funeral program, and by the lack of rehearsal time for the orchestra.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
King children arrive at Ebenezer for tribute to their mother
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At 12:20 p.m. Dexter, Martin III, Yolanda and Bernice King were escorted to the front of the sanctuary for the extensive tribute that includes remarks by numerous ministers, dignitaries and several musical performances. Yolanda King is scheduled to give closing remarks.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Oprah at Ebenezer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey entered historic Ebenezer Baptist Church just before noon to pay her respects to Coretta Scott King.
Winfrey entered from a side door, wearing a black dress and tweed overcoat.
Once mourners inside had left, the doors to the church were closed.
Winfrey stood by the coffin and gently stroked Mrs. King’s hand with the back of her hand. She also seemed to speak to the widow of Martin Luther King Jr.
After lingering a few moments, she turned and walked to the side of the coffin, teary-eyed.
Winfrey stood at the foot of the coffin, her arms crossed, for a few moments before leaving from the door used to enter the sanctuary. She was accompanied by about a half dozen others.
Once she left, other mourners were allowed to enter.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just before 11 a.m. hundreds of mourners stood in a viewing line that extended a block west of Ebenezer Church, then as they neared the church, they had to snake through four lines separated by barricades.
Purses were searched, but otherwise mourners were not screened before entering Ebenezer. Those arriving wore tennis shoes and high heels. Their clothing, from jogging suits to their Sunday best, glistened from standing outside in the rain.
Lynn Cothren, Mrs. King’s assistant, was the last King Center employee to file past the casket before the public was let into the church. Crying, he grabbed a tissue from a table as he came in.
A woman who called herself The Prophet Rev. Patricia struggled up the steps to the church. She said, “she had a dream and she followed the dream. Beautine Burns, 73, who drove from Plainfield, Ill., with her 83-year-old husband, said she knew the Kings when they were in Chicago, “and I participated in the sit-ins and took food to the Kings.� Burns, who was resting on a bench just before entering the sanctuary, had waited outside the church for an hour and a half.
Dorothy Miles of College Park struggled with a cane as she climbed the steps to the sanctuary. Miles, who was wearing running shoes, a black dress and a fur hat, said she came because, “I had no choice.�
Today’s program reflects King’s love of music
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A longtime friend of Coretta Scott King says today’s musical tribute follows King’s lifelong love of music.
Xernona Clayton says today’s musical tribute will bring a “full capacity” crowd at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Coretta Scott King died Jan. 30 from pneumonia brought on by complications caused by ovarian cancer. She was 78 years old.
King’s body will lie in honor in Ebenezer’s Heritage Sanctuary in Atlanta all day.
Clayton says King was a trained concert artist who gave concert tours to raise money for the organization of her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She says King liked all kinds of music, including the symphony and was one of the first blacks to become a patron of the symphony.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Atlanta police honor guard carries casket into Ebenezer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Nearer My God To Thee� played softly from inside the church, and a light, cold drizzle fell outside as Coretta Scott King’s casket was carried into Ebenezer Baptist Church by APD honor guard.
Inside, the open casket was blanketed by an arrangement of red and salmon-colored roses and white irises. Seven sprays of white roses, or red roses, baby’s breath and white irises, surrounded the casket.
A banner from last month’s King holiday still hung in the church.
Bearing pictures of Coretta Scott King and her late husband, the banner read, “2006 King holiday observance, in honor of the 77th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King. 38th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Service, Jan 16, 2006.
Vickie White, 42, made the drive south from New Jersey with two other members of the People’s Organization for Progress, a grassroots effort for racial and economic equality.
White said, “I took the time because, how could we not be here. While Mrs. Rosa Parks was considered the mother of the civil rights movement, Mrs. King was clearly the first lady.�
She said that Mrs. King could have gone into seclusion after her husband’s death, but, “she picked up the mantle.�
The three drove 850 miles in a 2004 minivan, bringing with them several hundred placards reading, “We Remember Coretta Scott King.� They were planning to drive back to New Jersey today after viewing the body.
White said the group’s leader, Lawrence Hamm, had called her and said, “I’m thinking about going to Atlanta.�
“We went to Washington for Rosa Parks, and we felt very strongly that Mrs. King was due at least this,� White said.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The scene
Gladys Knight, others to perform at today’s tribute
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The family of Coretta Scott King announced more details about the musical tribute to their mother today at Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary.
Performers will include Gladys Knight, Stephanie Mills, Jean Carne and others.
Yolanda King, the oldest child, will make remarks.
The Horizon Sanctuary is across the street from the King Center and historic Ebenezer Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue.
On Sunday, Ebenezer Baptist Church spokesman Corey Ealons said that singers Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin were invited to perform.
The event begins at noon and will last until at least 1 p.m., said Ealons, adding that artist Usher has also been asked to perform but has not been confirmed. Wonder and Franklin were among Super Bowl entertainers in Detroit Sunday.
A traditional memorial service will begin at 7 p.m., and will feature the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Joseph Lowery as speakers, said Ealons.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Mourners line up early at Ebenezer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Organ music blended with the sound of raindrops hitting umbrellas on Auburn Avenue this morning, as some 40 mourners lined up early to see the body of Coretta Scott King at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.
At the head of the line was Jackie Treen, 51, who had flown in from Maryland to pay tribute to the woman she called the first lady of the civil rights movement.
“I’m here to pay respects to the King family, for what the King family has done in order that my family has the privileges they have today,” Treen said.
She said that her own 30-year, biracial marriage probably would not have been possible if not for the Kings. “They paved the way for us to be treated as a woman and a man, not as she’s black and he’s white,” she said.
Treen noted that she had lived in Washington, D.C., when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. “My mom said, ‘Martin has been assassinated,’ and we all started crying.”
Treen, who was first in line, had arrived in the church at 4:30 a.m. because she thought there would be bigger crowds.
Lawrence Hamm, 52, of Montclair, N.J., drove 14 hours, arriving in Atlanta at 3:45 a.m. He said he had met Coretta Scott King when he was 17 and she had given him a youth leadership award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
“It changed my life,” Hamm said. “She spoke about the importance of young people being involved in the struggle for civil rights. She said it’s important to have young leaders, because they are future leaders.â€?
Hamm is now the chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress, a grassroots effort for racial and economic equality, and he handed out signs to the people in line saying, “We remember Coretta Scott King.”
At about 8:20 a.m., a black hearse pulled up in front of the brick church. The crowd became silent and still, watching as several men in gray suits and tall, black top hats exited, and an honor guard took in the casket of Mrs. King.
Sharon Catching, 38, of Rex, was standing in line outside the church hurch with her two daughters, Shaina, 5, and Christina, 9.
Catching was 1 when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and was too young to remember, so she brought her children so they would have some memory of a moment in civil rights history.
She said she does remember how her parents and others of her parents’ generation were doing everything they could to make things better for her.
“I think some people today, particularly the people of my generation, really didn’t understand what they were going through,” Catching said. Catching said she felt a connection to Coretta Scott King that was like family. “It feels like your grandmother passed away, or your auntie.”
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
Body will lie in King home church today
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This morning, Coretta Scott King’s body is returning to where it all began spiritually for the King family – Ebenezer Baptist Church.
The widow of Martin Luther King Jr. will lie in repose at the historic church from 10 a.m until midnight. Ebenezer, on Auburn Avenue, has been the home church of the King family for 111 years, King’s since grandfather took over as pastor.
The King Historic District will be buzzing with activity virtually all day. At Ebenezer’s Horizon Sanctuary, the church will host a noon musical tribute and an evening memorial service in honor of King.
Coretta King died a week ago at age 78. On Saturday, more than 40,000 people braved the wind and cold to pay tribute at the State Capitol.
Weather conditions today will be much the same, with the forecast calling for a frigid mix of snow, sleet and rain and a high temperature in the low 40s. The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory in effect until noon for the metro area.
The Atlanta Police Department advises visitors to Ebenezer and the historic district to use MARTA, since several streets in the area will be closed, and traffic is expected to be heavy. The street closures, from 7 a.m. until midnight, include:
— Auburn Avenue from Bell Street to Old Wheat Street;
— Jackson Street from Irwin Street to Edgewood Avenue;
— Fort Street from Edgewood Avenue to Auburn Avenue;
— Old Wheat Street from Hilliard Street to Jackson Street.
Organizers said the noon musical tribute will include a number of celebrities and dignitaries for what is expected to be a star-studded musical tribute. Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, fresh off of Super Bowl performances, were invited to sing. Corey Ealons, a spokesman for Ebenezer Baptist Church, said the two recording stars have not been confirmed yet. Usher was also invited.
Wonder penned “Happy Birthday,� in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and was supportive of Coretta King during her struggle to make her husband’s birthday a national holiday.
Franklin, who sang at King’s funeral in 1968, also sang at Rosa Park’s funeral last November.
At 7 p.m. this evening the Rev. Joseph Lowery and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, will highlight a memorial service in King’s honor.
To accommodate the large crowds that are expected for the viewing, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Park Service Visitor Center, will be open from 9 a.m. until midnight and tours of King’s birth home will continue until 8 p.m.
While all of that is going on, workers for the Roberts-Shields Memorial Co., are expected to finish building King’s crypt on a plot of grass in front of her husband’s crypt.
Ebenezer was founded in 1886 under the Rev. John A. Parker, who served as Ebenezer’s first pastor at the original site nearby —- on what is now Airline Street —- from 1886 to 1894. King’s maternal grandfather, the Rev. Adam D. Williams, became pastor in 1894 and saw the church experience its first significant growth.
Permalink | Categories: Coretta Scott King: The latest
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
