9781422277768

C H A P T E R 1 WIDOW H appily married to a prominent Baptist minister and civil rights leader and themother of four beautiful children, Coretta Scott King hadmany blessings to count on Thursday, April 4, 1968. Still, experience had taught her to guard against being complacent about anything life had given her. Life with her husband, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had made Coretta particularly aware—at times frighteningly so—that hers would never be an ordinary family. That springday, however,was shapinguptobeacompletelyuneventful one. Coretta was at home in Atlanta, Georgia, taking care of her children. As was nowcustomary, her husbandwas out of town—this time inMemphis, Tennessee, where he was scheduled to lead amarch to protest the unfair treatment of the city’s African-American garbage collectors, whowere demanding the same wages and safe working conditions as their white counterparts. Coretta and the children looked forward to spending the Easter holiday—only a few days away—with him on his return. Coretta had even finished all of her holiday shopping, with the exception of selecting a new Easter dress for her 12-year-old daughter, Yolanda. Although she had initially had some misgivings about buying the children new clothes because she feared that the sacredmeaning of the Easter holiday would be lost, she had relented

C H A P T E R 1 : W I D OW

7