Posted on 02/07/2006 6:55:05 AM PST by katieanna
LITHONIA, Ga. - Shivering in near-freezing temperatures, thousands of people waited hours in line Tuesday for one last chance to say goodbye to Coretta Scott King before her funeral.
"There's one word to describe going to go see Coretta — historic. It's good to finally see her at peace," said Robert Jackson, a 34-year-old financial consultant from Atlanta whose 10-year-old daughter, Ebony, persuaded him to take her to the visitation.
The lines had already started forming by 3 a.m. By the time the doors opened at 6:30 a.m., people toward the end were warned that if they stayed in line they likely wouldn't get into the funeral because of long lines that were already forming there.
An estimated 10,000 people, including four U.S. presidents, were expected to attend the midday funeral at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, where King's daughter Bernice is a minister.
"Several people have named white women who would get the same respect."
No one outside the Presidents Club --- only Ex-President's wives were mentioned.
About a Mrs. Billy Graham, for example, who has done as much as Mrs. MLK?
I won't toot my horn. I will tell you that I have nothing to be ashamed.
I have visited the White House. I have established a Foundation. I could care less about the Bush family, but I don't see them going to many funerals.
Mrs. King was probably a nice woman. I don't know. I won't be going to her funeral. I probably won't go to W's either.
MM, sorry if you are offended by my questions. You can give me no adequate reasons, and we all know it!
Everybody talks about making no distinction in race, religion, or color. I say Bullshiite! The politicians have shoved this crap down our throats. I don't have to like anybody. I have friends from all walks, and all colors. It is MY choice, with whom I wish to associate, AN CHOOSE NOT TO!
I don't have any problem with a lot of black people. I espect any man that will honor our society. I do have a problem with a culture which demeans women, and glorifies violence. The "boyz in the hood" are little different from the muzzies, though opposite in their philosophy. The Ayatolah Jesse speaks, or the Imam Al, can get them riled pretty quick.
I don't apologize for my feelings. I am on record before. This is about race, and I will quote Mr. King:
...I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today....
...This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
There are no guarantees for equal outcomes...
"We can't let them take her from us and reduce her to their trophy and not our freedom fighter," Jackson said.
The above is from the full text of the article. This is Al and Jesse's last chance to use this woman to associate themselves with King's memory. I'm sure M.L. King would be appalled at what is being done to his legacy.
"Can you?"
Have you read my earlier post where I addressed this question? (Post #37)
It should be 1 President and 3 former Presidents.
Unless a president dies while in office, he will be a former president
Most were at Katharine Graham's funeral in 2001; other than that, certainly former First Ladies.
"Very peculiar that none of the children are married."
Puzzles me, as well. I hope Bubba 'Toon doesn't turn this into another "Ron Brown Moment".
That's the correct form of address for all former presidents.
I'm sure she was a nice lady. But, so was my grandmother and she didn't get a state funeral attended by former Presidents.
Queen Elizabeth,
Margaret Thatcher,
Lady Bird Johnson,
Cindy Sheehan (just to be sure she's dead)
Didn't she already die?
Lady Bird recently had a birthday....she's 90 something, and still alive!
Well, she went to North Vietnam on a "peace mission" while our troops were fighting and dying in South Vietnam and tortured in Communist prisons.
Her trip there seems to be a little known event, that has been effectively expunged from King's "legacy" and no mention of this fact is seen on the MLK website nor almost anywhere else for that matter. That said, may she RIP.
No, she's still around. She's into her nineties now.
The only two presidents to attend Martin Luther King's funeral were former president Eisenhower and future president Nixon.
I'll take a stab at it.
Somone on the school board brought it up, and no one else dared to disagree for fear of being labeled a *gasp* "racist."
Countless wives of servicemen did as much, and for a more faithful spouse. It is a political funeral, for someone that lived a life with no discernable impact on this society.
Obviously, that's your call, and you're not going. Those who are attending think differently.
Whenever public viewing is allowed for the funeral of a well-known person in your city, schools may close because of people taking their children. Do you live in Atlanta?
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