Skip to main content
  • Tags: advocacy
Coretta: The autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King
King, Coretta Scott//Reynolds, Barbara
Coretta Scott was born in Alabama but left in her college years to attend Antioch College in Yellow Spring, Ohio after a stint at Lincoln Normal School. She wanted to teach in Yellow Springs but she was not given the right to do so since there were no black teachers in the schools. Later after marrying Martin Luther King, Coretta raised money for the civil rights movement by giving concerts and speaking about peace while their four children grew up in their close-knit family. Over the years as Martin came and went to lead protest marches of nonviolence, the political changes evolved - until one day, when Martin was shot and killed. Coretta continued the mutual work that she and Martin were doing - and Coretta broadened the message of nonviolence to include human rights across the world. Coretta and her staff trained 300,000 people in South Africa for the transition of Nelson Mandela out of prison. Coretta worked tirelessly to make Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a national holiday built on love with "a promise and power all its own".

Fighting for yes! The story of disability rights activist Judith Heumann
Cocca-Leffler, Maryann
Judy Heumann always hears NO from a young age. She is not allowed to attend public school because she is in a wheelchair. Then after she goes to a special school with special education students, she attends college to become a teacher. But even the New York Board of Education says NO to her becoming a teacher after she earns her teaching degree. Judy joins several other disability rights activists to ensure Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 could be signed into federal law. Their work lays the foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act. As a living advocate for herself and others, Judy tells her story of civil rights for which she fought tirelessly. By leading and working together with others to fix problems and make changes, disabled people now have less discrimination against them.