(CHICAGO) January 31, 2006 - Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, issued the following statement on the life and legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King:

An angel of hope has taken flight. She will be sorely missed -- a distinguished voice in history. For the 51 years since the Montgomery Bus Boycott, she has shown amazing endurance, strength and resilience.

She walked with her husband during the ordeal of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Their home was bombed; she endured the hate and violent anger toward their family. She had to endure the constant knowledge that each time he left their home, he might never return, while she still had to be a mother to their children and a voice for those who were often voiceless and hopeless.

When Dr. King was stabbed in New York, and hit in the head with bricks in Chicago, she had to absorb the blows, hovering over their children. When he was shot in Memphis, I called her on their bedside phone and informed her that he had been shot. I urged her to come quickly to Memphis. I tried to soften the blow of my observation, but soon the media and the whole world knew. She collected herself and organized the funeral. She came to Memphis to lead the march he was to lead. She never stopped marching and leading.

I knew Coretta for more than 40 years. To observe her handle the highs and lows of life with dignity was a lesson watching someone master fate with faith. She endured that pain with unusual strength and character. She helped to carry the baton of that struggle for the rest of her life. She single-handedly built the King Center; more than that, her voice for justice at home and peace in the world remained constant.

Whether it was for Aristide to return to Haiti, or for the freedom of Mandela in South Africa, or to end the unjust and unnecessary wars, she sustained the legacy of hope and healing and nonviolence, as a tactic and a way of life for herself and her husband. Hers was a voice that will now reverberate throughout the ages. A voice that continued the civil rights struggle and the struggle to end the colonial occupation of Africa was a consistent one.

Coretta Scott King earned her own special niche in history as an enduring freedom fighter.

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The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a progressive organization, which seeks to protect, defend and gain civil rights, level the economic and educational playing fields in all aspects of American life and bring peace to the world. The organization is headquartered at 930 E. 50th St in Chicago. For more information about the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, please visit the organization’s website at www.rainbowpush.org, or call (773) 373-3366. To interview Rev. Jackson or confirm your attendance at the press conference, please call one of the numbers listed above.