BET Celebration of Coretta Scott King Continues Sunday With Three Hours of Tributes, Special Moments

BET Celebration of Coretta Scott King Continues Sunday With Three Hours of Tributes, Special Moments

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- From reporting the news surrounding her death to the live Internet web cast of her funeral service, BET has captured the reverence, emotion and outpouring of love as the world said goodbye to Coretta Scott King. This Sunday, February 12, BET will continue its celebration of Mrs. King's life with back-to-back programs that trace the steps of this matriarch of the Civil Rights era; and revisit the memorable moments from her final farewell service at Atlanta's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. CORETTA SCOTT KING: MARRIED TO THE MISSION retraces the historic path of Ms. King through the words and expressions of family and friends beginning at Noon ET/PT. Immediately following is CORETTA SCOTT KING: CELEBRATING HER SPIRIT, a special two-hour look at the spiritual praises and memorable moments from Mrs. King's funeral, televising at 1:00 ET/PT.

Sunday's three-hour salute culminates the news reports, images, analysis, expressions and information delivered by BET to millions of television viewers and Internet users since Ms. King's death on January 30. Users were able to view Mrs. King's funeral via live video on www.BET.com, which generated over 57,000 video streams; while the network's hourly news briefs originated from Atlanta to keep television viewers updated on the service and the dignitaries in attendance. Visitors to the website could also post condolences for the King Family; read multiple news stories and features; and learn first-hand about Mrs. King's childhood days as told to BET News Senior Political Producer Pamela Gentry by Mrs. King's sister Edith Scott Bagley. Through diversity in their approaches, BET and BET.com combined to deliver a multi-media experience for all to share in celebrating the life of Mrs. King.

The following are excerpts and poignant expressions by the King children, African-American leaders and close friends about Coretta Scott King as shared in this Sunday's expanded one-hour special encore of CORETTA SCOTT KING: MARRIED TO THE MISSION on BET:

Commentary by the King Children on the Life and Death of Coretta Scott King, and King Legacy ...

Martin Luther King, III - "Obviously as a family of faith - we were hoping
that she would be able to recover. We expected some great results. So
obviously, there is no way that anyone can say you're totally prepared for
one moving home to God."

Rev. Bernice King - "I think we would be in a much worse place as a nation
had she not been that woman of purpose, faith and strength and the
courage"

Yolanda King - "She was an activist before Martin, before Daddy. There's a
wonderful clip, Daddy says, my masculine ego would love to say I led her
down the path. But we walked hand in hand. So there was just no way she
could fade away into the sunset. Thank God she didn't. She achieved so
much."

Dexter King - "We tend to, in particular in this society, want to have a
messiah. But the greatest gift I think our father gave us was the fact
that we all could be great. He told us, all of us could be great because
the definition of greatness is truly service to others. So I think that's
where we can all pick up the mantle."

On Mrs. King's Independent Spirit in Marriage to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr ...

Ambassador Andrew Young: "Coretta was one, who even in her wedding vows,
refused to say she would obey Martin. She said she would love, honor and
cherish him, but she wouldn't say obey."

On Breaking the News to Mrs. King That Dr. King Had Been Shot in 1968 ...

Rev. Jesse Jackson - "... I tried to soften the blow by saying he was shot
in the shoulder, but I knew it was the neck. I couldn't say that. But
within moments the phone rang and he was pronounced dead. It was in that
moment where the great runner had been struck down, but she (Mrs. King)
didn't drop the baton. She picked it up. She didn't let the one bullet
kill the both of them."

On Mrs. King's Life After the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. ...

Ambassador Andrew Young - "She was basically on her own. The Civil Rights
moment gave her little support. In fact -- they kind of resented her ...
This is not a Negro problem. This is America's problem and white people
are just as much responsible for it and should carry as much of the burden
for it as we do ... Unfortunately, there were too many people trying to
be MLK and her emergence seemed like she was blocking them. She wasn't
blocking anybody ... She didn't want to replace MLK, she wanted to carry
on the MLK movement."

BET NEWS SPECIAL - CORETTA SCOTT KING: MARRIED TO THE MISSION

SCHEDULE: Sunday, February 12, 2006 @ Noon ET/PT (One Hour)
HOST: Carlos Watson
DESCRIPTION: The King Children - Martin III, Yolanda, Bernice and Dexter,
along with national Black leaders and close friends share
thoughts and recollections of Coretta Scott King. Guests
include Rev. Jesse Jackson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-
California), activist Dick Gregory, gospel star Donnie
McClurkin, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Rev. Al
Sharpton and Ambassador Andrew Young.

BET NEWS SPECIAL - CORETTA SCOTT KING: CELEBRATING HER SPIRIT

SCHEDULE: Sunday, February 12, 2006 @ 1 p.m. ET/PT (Two Hours)
HOST: Andre Showell
DESCRIPTION: Memorable moments from the Coretta Scott King funeral
service. Tributes feature President George W. Bush, Bishop
T. D. Jakes, former President Bill Clinton and wife Senator
Hillary Clinton (D-New York) and a stirring eulogy by
daughter Rev. Bernice King.
LOCATION: New Birth Missionary Baptist Church - Atlanta, GA

ABOUT BET

BET, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE:VIA.B), is the nation's leading television network providing quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs programming for the African-American audience. The BET Network reaches more than 80 million households according to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is a dominant consumer brand in the urban marketplace with a diverse group of branded businesses: BET.com, the Number 1 Internet portal for African Americans; BET Digital Networks - BET Jazz, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; and BET Event Productions, specializing in a full range of event production services, including event management, venue selection, talent recruitment, sound, lighting and stage production.

Source: BET (Black Entertainment Television)

CONTACT: Michael Lewellen of BET, +1-202-608-2003,
michael.lewellen@bet.net

Web site: http://www.bet.com/

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