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Funeral Plans for Coretta Scott King

Today, there will be a viewing for Coretta Scott King at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, according to WDEF News.

On Saturday, over 25,000 people made their way to the Georgia Capitol to view the body of Coretta Scott King. They came as far as New York and Louisiana waiting at least two hours along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive while it rained intermittently, according to the washingtonpost.com.

Her funeral will be held on Tuesday at the New Missionary Baptist Church, where her youngest child Bernice King is a minister. Some expected to attend the funeral are former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Malaak Shabazz, Rep. Charles Rangel, and Kweisi Mfume.

King’s family said Thursday that the funeral plans included the public viewing for eight hours on Saturday, another viewing all day today at Ebenezer, and for three hours before the funeral on Tuesday. There will also be a memorial musical celebration at Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary which is across the street from Ebenezer Baptist Church and the King Center.

Washington Post reporters explained that King’s family did not request the body to lie in state at the U.S Capital Rotunda, an honor given to Rosa Parks last year. “They wanted to define how their mother is remembered and that it not become a political funeral,” said former Georgia Governor Andrew Young.

Her body will be laid next to her husband in an elevated tomb at the King Center in Atlanta. Initially, her children were hesitant to bury her in a facility run by the government because of suspicion of the government being involved in Martin Luther King’s death, the Washington Post said.

All flags on Georgia state property will fly at half-staff until King’s funeral, under the directives of Governor Sonny Perdue.

King died at the age of 78 on Jan. 31 while receiving treatment at Santa Monica Hospital in Mexico for a stroke and heart attack she suffered in August.