Presidents, preachers, poets praise King

Civil rights veterans in attendance
Among the civil rights veterans at the funeral were Dorothy Height, longtime chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women; Rep. John Lewis, former head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who led the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, Ala.; and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

The youngest of the Kings’ four children, Bernice, delivered remarks that were part fiery sermon and part eulogy. She was 5 when her father was assassinated and was famously photographed lying in her mother’s lap during her father’s funeral.

Bernice King, a minister at the megachurch, yelled at times as she preached against violence and materialism, saying that her mother’s purpose in life was to spread her father’s message of peace and unconditional love.

“Thank you, mother, for your incredible example of Christ-like love and obedience,” she said.

Poet Maya Angelou called Coretta Scott King “a study in serenity” and challenged the audience to carry on the King message of nonviolence.

“We owe something from this minute on, so that this gathering is not just another footnote on the pages of history,” said Angelou, a former U.S. poet laureate who sang some of her comments in a traditional style of the Southern black church.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin — who spoke immediately after the president — injected politics into her remarks, describing how Coretta Scott King spoke out against “the senselessness of war” with a voice that was heard “from the tintop roofs of Soweto to the bomb shelters of Baghdad.”

Wiretapping in the Kings’ time
Carter brought up the government response to Katrina, saying, “We only have to recall the color of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi” to know that inequality exists. He also noted that the Kings once were “victims of secret government wiretapping” — echoing Bush’s domestic spying program.

Outside the church, the lines to get into the funeral and to attend the final viewing of King’s body started forming before 3 a.m.

“It’s good to finally see her at peace,” said Robert Jackson, a 34-year-old financial consultant from Atlanta whose 10-year-old daughter, Ebony, persuaded him to take her to the church.

MORE FROM RACE & ETHNICITY

Race & ethnicity Section Front

theGrio: Sosa's new skin reflects ugly mentality Utah girl’s pierced nose brings suspension La. justice quits after interracial  flap NYT: Is N.Y. marathon winner American enough? MLK's daughter to head SCLC Farmer promotes ‘good-food revolution’ Race & ethnicity Section Front   Add Race & ethnicity headlines to your news reader: