Washington, DC— It is with a profound sense of sorrow and loss that I learned of the passing of Coretta Scott King, at the age of 78, on Monday, January 30.

Coretta Scott King was a loving partner and an inspiration to her husband, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.   She possessed a quiet strength and lived a graceful and dignified life, despite the enormous hardship and pain that followed her throughout her life.  She is one of the last people of the civil rights movement with worldwide resonance.  She was its First Lady.

Mrs. King shared Martin's deep commitment to social justice and played a key role in critical moments of his career.  A life-long pacifist, Mrs. King influenced her husband to speak out against the Vietnam War in 1967--always noted as a major point of departure and maturation in Martin's world view.  She established herself as an advocate of women's rights and campaigned against apartheid in the 1980s.

She was also a supporter of same-sex marriage that put her at odds not only with some in the civil rights movement, but also with her own daughter.  She understood her husband's maxim: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  Mrs. King applied her commitment to and belief in human rights to a broad range of issues--to domestic policy, international relations, poverty elimination, and gay rights.

As her husband once said, "on many points, she educated me. I wish I could say, to satisfy my masculine ego, that I led her down this path; but I must say we went down together, because she was as actively involved and concerned when we met as she is now."

After her husband's murder in 1968, Mrs. King played a key role in preserving Dr. King's image and memory.  For more than a decade, she fought to establish a federal holiday on his birthday.  Finally, in 1983, President Reagan yielded to popular pressure by signing a bill into law making Martin Luther King Jr. the only American besides George Washington to be honored with a federal holiday.

Mrs. King also raised millions of dollars to establish the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change in Atlanta.  The Center became one of the most popular Atlanta tourist attractions.  It houses her husband's tomb, archives, and exhibitions.

Mrs. King was a trained musician and studied voice and piano at Antioch College and later the New England Conservatory of Music, where she met her future husband.  As a minister's wife, Mrs. King had to put aside her desire for a career in music.  She, however, returned to her musical roots to raise money for the civil rights movement through benefit concerts that featured herself as well as other notable performers, including Duke Ellington and Harry Belafonte.

Despite her numerous obligations, Mrs. King excelled at raising her four children. She carried on her duties as a loving mother and preserving Martin's legacy with grace and a strong sense of spirituality.

Dr. King left a gift to the world in Mrs. King, who continued to the end of her life to travel throughout the United States and world to reinforce her and Martin's shared vision of civil and human rights.

Mrs. King was an angel among us.  She learned early on that in order to realize lasting and meaningful civil rights gains, one had to remain vigilant, stay the course, and not only talk the talk but walk the walk.  We are saddened by her passing but also rejoice in her life full of meaning and purpose.