Thursday, August 24, 2006

Coretta Scott King Panel Convenes



A panel created for the purpose of coming up with a way to properly memorialize Coretta Scott King is under way. Mrs. King, the first lady of the civil rights movement, passed away earlier this year. It's only appropriate that her home town of Atlanta come up with some fitting way to honor her.

Suggestions have already been made. But the panel probably won't submit an idea to the city council until the end of the year. I would expect that the panel will also be taking suggestions from members of the public at large.

From S.A. Reid's AJC article:

City Council President Lisa Borders said at least 100 ideas surfaced before the King Commission was formed.

Renaming Simpson Road in northwest Atlanta, an early proposal by Councilmen Ivory Young and C.T. Martin, hasn't yet been discussed, she said.
However, Young said commission members favor proposing a more prominent thoroughfare that cuts through more economically and racially diverse neighborhoods.

"The intent of the commission is to honor the sacrifice and service Mrs. King gave to Atlanta and her work in keeping Dr. King's vision alive," Borders said.

Commission members are appointed representatives from government, politics, business, community and the King family and King Center.

3 comments:

Tina said...

Shortly after Coretta Scott King died, my friend and fellow poet Steen Miles both wrote and exchanged memorial poems. Here's mine, which will appear in my upcoming collected poetry, A Second Spring, available next month. Needless to say, it is copyrighted 2006. The lines may not turn out exactly right here, but I trust your readers can figure it out!

Lower the flag for Coretta

Yes, lower the flag for Coretta,
lower it and let each star dip
in recognition of the tears
wept by the poor.

Lower it and let each stripe bend
in recognition of the wounds
laid on the minds and backs
of the persecuted.

Lower it and keep it lowered
at half-staff, still mourning
for victims of violence everywhere,
and victims of war.

Lower it and keep it lowered,
for the unknown soldier, the sailor,
the marine, the mother, the wife,
the sister, the brother, the child.

Yes, lower the flag for Coretta,
and until we learn to live in peace,
Lower the flag for us all.

Tina said...

I would like to give a copy of my book as a gift to the King family as my small contribution, but don't know where to mail it.

Button Gwinnett said...

How lovely, Tina! Just as Mrs. King was surely a lovely woman. I was always struck by the physical beauty of that she had, like in the photo I borrowed for my blog. But even her physical beauty pales in comparison to her inner beauty. Your poem reminds us that her dreams, which were a part of that inner beauty, haven't been fully realized yet.