Beside Every Great Man is an Even Greater Woman

This is Black History month. Both during his lifetime and afterwards, Martin Luther King Jr.'s enemies leveled some pretty nasty allegations at him. While he was a devout Christian with a very traditional attitude towards women, I don't know if the charges of spousal abuse, infidelity and plagiarism are founded or not. But I do believe that his widow Coretta Scott King's compassion, strength, activism (and, by most accounts, ego) exceeded that of her late husband. She died yesterday. She may not have had the lasting influence he had, but she not only continued struggles her husband had been involved in but also fought for some causes her husband would've arguably never touched: civil rights, the Vietnam War, hunger, unemployment, voting rights, racism, racial profiling, mandatory minimum sentences, affirmative action, apartheid and gay and women's rights issues all received her attention. Given the fact that our state legislature doesn't even observe her husband's federal holiday (which she helped establish) I'd say the odds of her getting a street named after her in Salt Lake City (and thus joining the illustrious ranks of her husband, Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez and John Stockton) are pretty slim. She will be sorely fucking missed.