Coretta Scott King

Homophobia is like racism and anti Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people to deny their humanity their dignity and personhood.

There is a spirit and a need and a man at the beginning of every great human advance. Every one of these must be right for that particular moment of history, or nothing happens.

I can't help but believe that at some time in the not-too-distant future, there is going to be another movement to change these systemic conditions of poverty, injustice, and violence in people's lives. That is where we've got to go, and it is going to be a struggle.

Revenge and retaliation always pertuate the cycle of anger, fear and violence.

Thank God we have the example of Martin Luther King, Jr. People need role models. They need to see examples of people in peoples' lives, and that's why it's so important not just to commemorate his life, but to study and try to live by the principles of that life.

If you use weapons of war to bring about peace, you're going to have more war and destruction.

On Thanksgiving Night, 1942, when I was fifteen years old, white racists burned our house to the ground.

Particularly in the South, efforts continue to be made to deny blacks access to the polls, even where blacks constitute the majority of the voters.

Like Gandhi, my husband had struggled with the issue of materialism.

The Voting Rights Act was, and still is, vitally important to the future of democracy in the United States.

If American women would increase their voting turnout by ten percent, I think we would see an end to all of the budget cuts in programs benefiting women and children.

Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.

Segregation was wrong when it was forced by white people, and I believe it is still wrong when it is requested by black people.

In the area of economic justice, we still have a long way to go. We have too many people who are discriminated against just because they happen to be black or they happen to be a woman or some other minority.

Nonviolence is the only credible response to the violence we're seeing around the world.

Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.

Mr. Sessions' conduct as a U.S. Attorney, from his politically-motivated voting fraud prosecutions to his indifference toward criminal violations of civil rights laws, indicated that he lacks the temperament, fairness and judgment to be a federal judge.

I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation.

We should not forget that in the '60s, George Wallace's motto was 'segregation forever,' and that he did nothing to deter bombings and other acts of violence and, by his actions, condoned them.

A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is a form of gay bashing and it would do nothing to protect traditional marriages.

It is plain that we don't care about our poor people except to exploit them as cheap labor and victimize them through excessive rents and consumer prices.

Mama and Daddy King represent the best in manhood and womanhood, the best in a marriage, the kind of people we are trying to become.

Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union.

I feel George Wallace symbolizes something in the past which America has rejected.

I'm fulfilled in what I do. I never thought that a lot of money or fine clothes - the finer things of life - would make you happy. My concept of happiness is to be filled in a spiritual sense.

I always knew that I was called to do something. I didn't know what, but I finally rationalized after I met Martin - and it took a lot of praying to discover this - that this was probably what God had called me to do: to marry him.

As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder and assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses... An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation.

You cannot have peaceful means - peaceful means will have to be used to bring about peaceful ends. If you use destructive means, you're going to bring about destructive ends.

Nonviolence would work today, it would work 2,000 years from now, it would work 5,000 years from now.

Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood.

I think that... discrimination in the job market is a very important area where work needs to be done.

I believe that women know if their husbands are unfaithful. They feel it.

Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.

Our Congress passes laws which subsidize corporation farms, oil companies, airlines, and houses for suburbia. But when they turn their attention to the poor, they suddenly become concerned about balancing the budget and cut back on the funds for Head Start, Medicare, and mental health appropriations.

I suppose I experienced the personal dilemma that baffles every working woman. What happens when you are expected to be Superwoman, to perform a dozen conflicting tasks at the same time?

There is no reason why a nation as rich as ours should be blighted by poverty, disease, and illiteracy.

It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem.

Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don't believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.

What most did not understand then was that I was not only married to the man I loved, but I was also married to the movement that I loved.

Nelson Mandela sat in a South African prison for 27 years. He was nonviolent. He negotiated his way out of jail. His honor and suffering of 27 years in a South African prison is really ultimately what brought about the freedom of South Africa. That is nonviolence.

Non-violence is a permanent attitude we bring to the breakfast table and bring to bed at night.

Revenge and retaliation always perpetuate the cycle of anger, fear and violence.

My story is a freedom song of struggle. It is about finding one's purpose, how to overcome fear and to stand up for causes bigger than one's self.

A vote for George Wallace is a vote for the past and oppression.

I think if people really read Martin Luther King, Jr., then they would begin to understand what he really represented.

Justice is never advanced in the taking of a human life.

While not a panacea for the nation's illegal immigration problems, employer sanctions are one necessary means of stopping the exploitation of vulnerable workers and the undercutting of American jobs and living standards.

Civil rights leaders, including my husband and Albert Turner, have fought long and hard to achieve free and unfettered access to the ballot box. Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district he now seeks to serve as a federal judge.

The woman power of this nation can be the power which makes us whole and heals the rotten community, now so shattered by war and poverty and racism. I have great faith in the power of women who will dedicate themselves whole-heartedly to the task of remaking our society.

You have to have people who prick the consciences of the nation.

I am scared that if Ronald Reagan gets into office, we are going to see more of the Ku Klux Klan and a resurgence of the Nazi Party.

We can prevent many people from becoming terrorists by truly listening to people who feel they've been treated unjustly and responding to their concerns with a sense of justice and compassion.

I don't see how you can separate human rights and the rights of all people, no matter what their sexual orientation is.

Marrying Martin and the movement perfected my journey of discovery, soothed my yearning to pour out the values and vision within my soul.

During the bus boycott, I was tested by fire, and I came to understand that I was not a breakable crystal figurine.