Keeping the Dream
Alive
Coretta Scott King
preaches Peace
"Let us dare,
my brothers and sisters, to dream of a peace that humanity has never
known." Coretta Scott King's words echoed wall-to-wall in a packed Wilson
Hall in October. King, who has spent years campaigning for peace and
social change, is fulfilling a legacy started by her husband, civil
rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
His legacy
is "visible throughout our society and the world," she said. After the
1968 assassination of her husband, Coretta Scott King could have retreated
into a life of solitude. Instead, she made it her life's mission to
spread his message of peace.
King successfully
lobbied to establish her husband's birthday as a federal holiday and
built the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change
in Atlanta, which has trained thousands of people in King's philosophy.
King has worked
to promote international peace with leaders like Corazon Aquino of the
Philippines and Nelson Mandela of South Africa. She speaks on nonviolence
and urges audiences to give service to the disadvantaged, acts which
she says, "have spread like a prairie fire in recent years."
King reminded
JMU students, faculty members and guests that "God has given us a beautiful
world and the obligation to share and nurture divine gifts with all
people."
King devoted
part of her lecture to the terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001. "We cannot honor
our loved ones by shedding more innocent blood," she said. Renouncing
military retaliation, King labeled American counterattacks on Afghanistan
as "sobering reminders of our vulnerability to violence." She proposed
America's fighting the war differently, by uniting as a nation and breaking
the American addiction to Middle East oil, which allies the United States
with corrupt nations exploiting oppressed peoples.
King lamented
discriminatory acts against Muslim-Americans and other Arabs in the
United States, stressing that America's strength lies in its "vibrant
mosaic" of multicultural citizenship. As citizens "living in a world
torn by discrimination and intolerance," King stressed the importance
of "peaceful demonstration," an attitude her husband worked to establish
during the civil rights movement.
"Nonviolence
is a permanent attitude that we bring to the breakfast table, keep throughout
the day, and take to bed at night," she said. She pleaded for the education
of American youth with an emphasis on social awareness. "Young people
are the future, and we must invest everything we can in their development."
Ashley Day ('02)
|
