A Song for Coretta
by Pearl Cleage

On February 6, 2006, people began lining up at dawn outside of Atlanta‘s Ebenezer Baptist Church to pay their respects to the late Mrs. Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose body lay in state in the small sanctuary.

By mid-morning, the crowd wound down the street and around the corner of the old red brick building.

People of all ages stood patiently for hours, waiting to say goodbye.

Sometimes they murmured to each other quietly.

Sometimes they shared memories of Mrs. King‘s extraordinary life and expressed sorrow at her passing.

When a cold rain began to fall at sunset, those who had thought to bring umbrellas shared them with those whose resolve was the only thing not dampened by the drizzle.

At close to midnight, the crowd had dwindled to a determined few.

The five fictional characters in this play are at the end of that long line of mourners.