On Thursday, the Atlanta community gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Coretta Scott King, an advocate for African American equality.
According to WSB-TV, family and friends gathered to unveil a monument and garden at The King Center, which Coretta founded in 1968 in northeast Atlanta following the death of her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“This day not only honors Mrs. King’s contributions to history. It is also her 96th birthday,” Karyn Greer of Channel 2 announced to the crowd, who enjoyed a vocal performance by 11-year-old Victory Brinker. “You raise me up so I could stand on mountains,” she sang effortlessly.
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Monument artist, Saya Woolfalk, said Mrs. King desired for the monument to be built on the “sacred ground” of The King Center rather than any other location.
“It’s an immersive environment,” Woolfalk said of her art. “It’s not a representational sculpture. It’s intended to make you feel like you’re in the spirit of Mrs. King. So you walk into the space, and you feel her spirit.”
The monument features a circular, steel “chapel dome” open at its sides. The domed canopy covers a bronze cast sculpture of microphones, with a live microphone for visitors “to speak their own words and commitments to civil rights and nonviolence.” The floor features a tiled mosaic of the rose with King’s name.
“Today’s dedication of this monument is but a beginning,” daughter and King Center CEO Dr. Bernice King said at the ceremony.
The garden has a stone-paved area aligned with benches and flower beds leading up to the monument, only moments away from the crypt that holds the couple’s bodies.
“There is much more to come. When her legacy is fully revealed, we will know that because of her, because of mom, because of Coretta Scott King, the dream lives, and the legacy continues,” Dr. Bernice King added.
It’s been 17 years since Coretta Scott King’s death, but her long-lasting impact is still widely recognized, honored, and felt.