Queens Who Carry The Dream

Dear LINKED ARMS (ADOES) Queens,

On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I write to you not only to honor Dr. King—but to intentionally honor Coretta Scott King, a woman whose voice, vision, and discipline carried the movement when the cost was highest and the road most uncertain.

Coretta once said:

“Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.”

She understood something deeply personal and profoundly political: that justice is not a moment—it is a lifetime commitment. And often, that commitment is carried by Black women quietly, faithfully, and without permission.

When Dr. King was alive, Coretta stood beside him. When he was taken from this earth, she stood for the movement.

She refused to let grief silence her. She refused to let fear redirect her. She refused to let history narrow the work to one man, one march, or one moment.

Instead, she taught us that love must be organized, that peace requires structure, and that legacy is built through sustained action.

Another of her truths rings especially clear for us today:

“The struggle for peace and justice is a never-ending process.”

Queens, this is the work you do every day.

You nurture, organize, protect, teach, and heal—often while carrying your own grief, your own responsibilities, your own unanswered prayers. Like Coretta, you understand that leadership does not always look like a microphone. Sometimes it looks like endurance. Sometimes it looks like boundaries. Sometimes it looks like choosing to continue when retreat would be easier.

Coretta Scott King reminds us that Black women are not merely supporters of movements—we are architects of them.

She shows us that:

• We can be soft and unyielding at the same time

• We can mourn and still mobilize

• We can love deeply and demand justice fiercely

As Queens of Linked Arms, you are walking in her lineage.

You are proof that the dream did not end—it evolved. You are evidence that the movement lives in classrooms, kitchens, boardrooms, prayer circles, and community spaces. You are carrying forward a freedom that must be earned again and again.

May today remind you that your labor matters. Your leadership matters. Your voice matters.

And may we continue—linked arm in arm—not just honoring history, but being faithful to it.

With love, honor, and deep respect,

Mary Curry

Co-President, Linked Arms Association

In honor of Coretta Scott King

And the Queens who carry the work forward