She spoke so well.

Sorry, in putting that title up I am both acknowledging the truth and being a sarcastic twit abouta common phrase uttered in the US whenever a person of colour delivers a powerful speech; "he/she speaks so well". It is said in almost an air of awe as if it was not thought to be possible prior to seeing it for themselves. It is a phrase that was uttered often when it was looking possible that Colin Powell may run for candidacy of the office of President of the United States. Pathetic really. Anyhow, this is about more important things.

As my job currently affords me, I have the unique ability to work form home and in doing so I have the opportunity to be watching the funeral for the political activist, the mother, the advocate and yes, the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mrs. Coretta Scott King. While everyone essentially knows the story of MLK, the work (arguably greater) of his widow tends to be overshadowed by the ever strong symbolism that continues forward from her assassinated husband. And in no way would I think of demeaning what Dr. King accomplished but rather I would seek to shed light on what his power, strong wife was able to continue to do for almost 40 years after his death.

Before the funeral, mourners had one last chance to say goodbye to King at the church. Schools closed for the day in DeKalb County, where the funeral is being held. On Monday, more than 115,000 mourners braved a chilly February rain to pay their respects at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King's husband once preached, according to the National Park Service. The historic church is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Site, which the park service oversees. The public viewing at Ebenezer followed one at the Georgia Capitol over the weekend. Coretta Scott King was the first woman and the first African-American to receive such an honor.

The tribute differed sharply from when then-Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox refused to honor her husband following his assassination.

You can easily Google for all the different things that the King family has accomplished and has endured all these years. I would not be able to do it all justice in fifty blogs; there is simply too much. I would encourage you to take some time and check it out.

During the funeral, of which the profound, funny and controversial parts are sure to be replayed ad naseum on the TV, in debates, in the newspapers and of course here online. Of note would be the words of Dr. Joe Lowery (sp?), Maya Angelou, Sen. Ted Kennedy, Honorable Mayor Shirley Franklin (Atlanta), the fumbling of former president George Bush Sr., former president James Carter and the extreme ovation for former president William Jefferson Clinton and his wife Sen. Hillary Clinton. There was music, there were political jabs, there were in-jokes and there was truth.

I think the best line thus far came from Bill Clinton though in that, "Let us not forget that there is a woman lying in there" and "the difficulty of success does not relieve us of the responsibility to try." It rang the most true and the most right and I tell you I would vote him back in at a moment's notice. He does need to give Hillary some tips though; she has the words but not the charisma and warmth.

Oh, and let me not fail to mention that I took great glee in the lambasting that Dubya took from a string of folks that came to talk. There were comments, mostly vague ones, about the war, about the violence, about the ineffective leadership. The most poignant, the most powerful of them all came from Dr. Lowery when he stated (paraphrased), in badly written poetry, "for war there are billions more but no more for the poor" seriously slapping the Bush administration that defends spending billions of dollars and countless lives and injuries (always the forgotten part of war) but has no money for social programs, to feed the poor, to house the homeless, to make medicine availabel for everyone. Dubya was visibly uncomfortable but I think he would have run out there if he had the chance.

Bush got nailed on many other points too. The "faces of Louisiana" was referred to by Jimmy Carter when he was explaining that the fight for human rights continued. Carter also made mention that the Kings had their phones tapped, much like what Bush defends as necessary today. Saigon was compared to Iraq of today and on and on. The strongest salvo in the parade of politics though did coem from Bill Clinton who all but held his wife up for succession as the next president. The crowd roared their approval and Mrs. Clinton did her best to wuiet them down and downplay it. I guess things are back to a proper understanding in the Clinton household. Ahem, but I digress.

An interesting point made by the commentators on MSNBC (eww, damn Microsoft) is that Coretta King was a maker of two non-family kings. With her endorsement of Robert Kennedy in the sixties and Jimmy Carter in the seventies, she singlehandedly help them obtain votes that they may never have gotten otherwise. The other glaring observation was that at the end of a charged speech by Jimmy Carter, he was the ONLY one that did not turn to acknowledge the President and walked away without shaking his hand. They say the President did good by simply showing up in what would not be a majorly friendly environment, but I say that really is bullshit; he had no choice in the matter. His absence would have been much more glaring than him showing up. Besides, how many times will you get to see FOUR living presidents (Dubya, George Sr., Carter and Clinton) gathered in a single function?

Oh, while I am on Bush, he should check the tapes and see that he should never, EVER speak in public again without something written by whomever wrote his speech today. It is the single most coherent thing I have ever heard come out of his mouth. They should never let that man "think" and then open his mouth without it being scripted.

There will be many things said and many things that maybe should not have been said in this context. Regardless, I think that everyone should do as Bill Clinton suggested and remember that there is a woman in that casket and that a family grieves for their mother and needs everyone's support to carry the burdern that a legacy of being the children of the Kings have bestowed upon them. We may not be able to do it directly, but we can do it by making the work of making a better world that much easier for them. Let us fix things in our own backyard so that we may help our neighbour and our friends and our enemies. The question was asked many times in many ways, "what are YOU going to do now to keep the dream alive?" What are we going to do indeed?!

Mrs. King, you are free at last. Rest in Peace.

More Links:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-02-06-scott-king-atlanta_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/07/king.service/index.html

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/02/07/pf-1429642.html