Before Coretta Scott became the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., she was a talented musician. She was born on April 27, 1927, in Marion, Alabama. She studied voice and violin at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Music was not just a hobby for her. It was a tool for change. During the civil rights movement, Coretta organized Freedom Concerts. They combined music, poetry, and narration to tell the story of the struggle for equality. Songs like "We Shall Overcome" became anthems of the movement. Marchers sang them while walking through hostile crowds because the music gave them courage. After Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in 1968, Coretta did not stop working. She founded the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, which teaches nonviolent methods for creating social change. She also fought for a national holiday honoring her husband, a campaign that took 15 years. The holiday was finally established in 1986. Coretta believed that art, music, and peaceful protest could change the world more powerfully than violence ever could.