Rev. King's widow continues his struggle for social justice.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

This profile is part of a Children's Express focus on prominent blacks who are helping to make "The Dream" come true.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. fought all his life to make a stronger nation. His dream was to make our country equal for all races. After his death, his dream did not die.

Coretta Scott King, his widow, carries on Rev. King's dream and keeps it alive. She says the best words to describe her are civil and human rights activist.

"I was involved during my husband's lifetime working alongside of him. Even before I met him I was involved in working for causes, and I had my own commitment.

"So after his death, it was like they killed my husband, but they cannot kill his dream. Therefore, I am going to make myself available to do whatever it is that I can do to carry forth his work," King recently said in a phone interview with Children's Express from her Atlanta office.

King credits her mother for giving her the motivation to stand up for her beliefs.

"I came from a deprived background, but my mother said, `My children are going to college if I only have one dress to put on.' And then she instilled that in me. She gave me the values to work hard, to believe in myself and to respect other people. And to realize that I have a responsibility to give something back of the things that I received from society," King said.

"So I guess (that) essentially is what has been a large part of my motivation and my being able to continue perhaps and make some small contributions."

Optimism is critical to success, according to King.

"You have to develop a positive outlook, and you have to believe first in yourself. . . . I've believed that non-violence is a method which is based on love, and there's no force in the world more powerful than love. And that love can change and transform people, institutions and societies. And can make them better. That's what keeps me going and that's basically what my motivation is," she said.

King spends a lot time developing programs and activities to bring about changes she feels are needed in our society. She does this as president and chief executive officer of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-violent Social Change in Atlanta. The center, a "living" memorial to Rev. King, bases its activities on his philosophy of non-violence.

The King center was established to make all generations aware of the history of the non-violent civil and human rights movement. It was also established to remind people of Rev. King's teachings.

"If the communities are to get better, and people are to become better people, then I think Martin Luther King Jr. has . . . left a blueprint for us to follow," King said.

King said that in today's society, people often feel helpless and powerless. For this reason, the King center is trying to teach young people how to empower themselves.

"We have a youth workshop of non-violence that takes place in the summer, usually in the month of July. We (also) have high school students (ages) 13 to 18 who are part of that workshop, and we do things during King Week for young people at elementary schools."

King speculates on whether there will ever be a day when all races will be able to live in peace.

"I think we have come a long way in resolving some of the problems between nations and among nations, and more recently things have been done in a more peaceful, non- violent way," she said.

"I think that peace is an achievable goal, but peace and justice have to go together. In other words, they are indivisible. You can't have peace without justice, and you can't have justice without peace.

"When we talk about peace we need to talk about what brings about peace in our own communities and our own neighborhoods because if there is any form of inequality and injustice, you're not going to have peace anywhere.

"So in order to have a peaceful society and peaceful community and peaceful nation, we have to work hard at trying to make sure people of all creeds and religions and all ethnic backgrounds share in the promises of our great country," King continued.

She believes racial prejudice is caused by a lack of knowledge and offers advice on how to resolve differences.

"I think a lot of times it's lack of information, lack of understanding, lack of contact. . . . We fear the unknown, and the way we respond to it is by disliking it and developing an animosity toward it," she said.

"Whenever you have a problem with somebody you should sit down and try to peacefully dialogue with them so that you can clear it up." When that happens, she believes, people will see they're more alike than different.

It is King's belief that everyone has to contribute to help keep the Rev. King's dream alive.

"In your own life situation, I hope that you will not become embittered, that you will not let anything stop you from your goals and being positive," she said.

"I believe no matter how difficult a situation is," King said, "we have to keep our faith and believe that things can change and continue to work for change. . . . Had (Rev. King) not lived, I'm not sure that our nation would be as strong and certainly not what it is today."