February 9, 2006

LANSING – In a proclamation issued today, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm declared Friday, February 10, 2006, Coretta Scott King Day in Michigan. This proclamation honors King, who passed away January 31, and her commitment throughout her life to promoting civil rights through non-violent efforts.

“Coretta Scott King’s devotion to obtaining equality for all has inspired generations of people throughout this state and country,” Granholm said.  “Coretta Scott King Day is an opportunity for us to honor her legacy and pledge to foster unity and diversity in every walk of life to ensure a society that values opportunity for all.”
 
King attended Antioch College in Ohio and met her husband Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Boston in 1951 while pursuing a degree from Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music. Along side her husband, King led major civil rights campaigns throughout the 1950s and 60s to underscore the rights of all citizens, strike down the segregation laws, and work for economic justice for all. After her husband’s death in 1968, King continued to devote her life to the philosophy of non-violence and led the effort to create the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in 1969.