Coretta Scott King

“During the bus boycott, I was tested by fire, and I came to understand that I was not a breakable crystal figurine.”

“Mama and Daddy King represent the best in manhood and womanhood, the best in a marriage, the kind of people we are trying to become.”

“I think that... discrimination in the job market is a very important area where work needs to be done.”

“Civil rights leaders, including my husband and Albert Turner, have fought long and hard to achieve free and unfettered access to the ballot box. Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district he now seeks to serve as a federal judge.”

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”

“Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union.”

“Our Congress passes laws which subsidize corporation farms, oil companies, airlines, and houses for suburbia. But when they turn their attention to the poor, they suddenly become concerned about balancing the budget and cut back on the funds for Head Start, Medicare, and mental health appropriations.”

“The Voting Rights Act was, and still is, vitally important to the future of democracy in the United States.”

“To abandon affirmative action is to say there is nothing more to be done about discrimination.”

“I think if people really read Martin Luther King, Jr., then they would begin to understand what he really represented.”

“As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder and assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses... An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation.”

“Non-violence is a permanent attitude we bring to the breakfast table and bring to bed at night.”

“I feel George Wallace symbolizes something in the past which America has rejected.”

“Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.”

“Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.”

“What most did not understand then was that I was not only married to the man I loved, but I was also married to the movement that I loved.”

“The woman power of this nation can be the power which makes us whole and heals the rotten community, now so shattered by war and poverty and racism. I have great faith in the power of women who will dedicate themselves whole-heartedly to the task of remaking our society.”

“A vote for George Wallace is a vote for the past and oppression.”

“I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation.”

“I believe that women know if their husbands are unfaithful. They feel it.”