King elaborated on her mother’s works in an interview with The Grio:
“My father would not be the person that he is and [have] his iconic stature had it not been for the work that she did so I speak certain things intentionally,” she said.
King, currently the CEO of The King Center in Atlanta, said that Monday’s holiday honoring her father would include “a special tribute” to her mother “so that people are reminded that this holiday that we are celebrating really would not have happened had she not been diligent and determined.”
According to Bernice King, Coretta Scott King helped make MLK Day a reality even when the legislation was failing in Congress by getting cities to create their own celebrations around King’s birthday.
“So by the time the holiday actually passed as a federal holiday, many cities were already commemorating his birthday every year,” she said. “Most people don’t know that more than a 100 nations celebrate a holiday of a leader that is not a citizen of their nation.”
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968. The federal holiday commemorating the civil rights leader’s Jan. 15 birthday was first observed in 1986.
Bernice King admits that her mother was not featured on banners before her death in 2006, but that has changed.
“She is on them [now] because we want people to know it was a partnership,” she said.
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Portrait of American Civil Rights and religious leaders Dr Samuel DeWitt Proctor (1921 - 1997) (left) of Virginia Union University and Dr Martin Luther King Jr (1929 - 1968), along with King's wife, fellow activist Coretta Scott King (1927 - 2006) (second left), and an unidentified woman, March 9, 1957. (Photo by Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
OSLO, NORWAY: Coretta Scott King and her husband Martin Luther King 09 December 1964 in Oslo where the US clergyman and civil rights leader received 10 December the Nobel Peace Prize. Martin Luther King was assassinated on 04 April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray confessed to shooting King and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. King's killing sent shock waves through American society at the time, and is still regarded as a landmark event in recent US history. (Photo credit should read AFP/Getty Images)
Rosalind Cash and Coretta Scott King attend the premiere of 'Uptown Saturday Night' on June 15, 1974 at the Criterion Theater in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)
Social activist Coretta Scott King and actor Sidney Poitier attending the Andrew Young For Congress Support Committee Dinner Dance on June 10, 1970, at the Pierre Hotel in New York City, New York. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)
Lithonia, UNITED STATES: The Reverand Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King, is applauded during the funeral for Coretta Scott King 07 February 2006 at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church 07 February 2006, in Lithonia, GA. AFP PHOTO/POOL/Jason REED (Photo credit should read JASON REED/AFP/Getty Images)
CORETTA SCOTT KING -- Pictured: Coretta Scott King -- Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank
Social activist Coretta Scott King, singer Harry Belafonte and New York City Mayor John Lindsay attending 'Andrew Young For Congress Support Committee Dinner Dance' on June 10, 1970 at the Pierre Hotel in New York City, New York. (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)
US Rep. John Lewis, D-GA, (L) is comforted by Coretta Scott King (R) after the unveiling of a commemorative granite engraving in honor of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 22 August 2003 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC where Dr. King gave his 'I Have a Dream' speech nearly 40 years ago. The ceremony was part of a two-day 40th anniversary march on Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/PAUL J.RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J.RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
ATLANTA - JANUARY 17: U2 singer Bono (L) kisses Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., during a news conference January 17, 2004 in Atlanta, Georgia. Bono was honored by the King Center during their annual Salute to Greatness awards dinner as a part of the 36th King Holiday Observance. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images)
Coretta Scott King during 2005 Atlanta Heroes Awards at Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. (Photo by Frank Mullen/WireImage)
Coretta Scott King and Oprah Winfrey at the Hyatt Regency - Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia (Photo by Moses Robinson/WireImage)
To mark the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington, Coretta Scott King speaks at the very spot her husband gave his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech. An engraving now marks the spot where King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Maya Angelou and Coretta Scott King during 'Maya Angelou Life Mosaic' Collection by Hallmark at Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by KMazur/WireImage)
Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., discusses her two hour meeting with Attorney General Janet Reno along with (L-R) Andrew Young, Dexter King, and Walter Fauntroy. King presented new evidence to Attorney General Janet Reno in an appeal for another investigation of her husband's assassination May 8, 1998 in Washington, DC.
American Civil Rights activist Coretta Scott King (1927 - 2006) (center) stands arms crossed and holding hands with two unidentified women at an unspecified event, August 1988. (Photo by Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
MONTGOMERY, AL - MARCH 25: Coretta Scott King and husband civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on platform at end of 1965 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama Civil Rights March. On March 25, 1965 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Photo by Stephen F. Somerstein/Getty Images)
Close-up of American Civil Rights leader Coretta Scott King (1927 - 2006) as she speaks at Mason Temple, Church of God, 9 years after Dr. King's murder, Memphis, TN, 1977. She had vowed never to return to Memphis after her husband's murder but did so in support of striking workers during the bitter Memphis furniture strike of 1977. (Photo by Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images)
Coretta Scott King being interviewed in her office at the Martin Luther King Center. (Photo by Tom Hill/WireImage)
[UNVERIFIED CONTENT] Nelson Mandela and his former wife Winnie Mandela are guests of Coretta Scott King at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in 1990
American Civil Rights activist Coretta Scott King (1927 - 2006) stands at a lectern and gives speech and an unspecified event, 1980s. (Photo by Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King's wife, 20th century, United States, New York, Schomburg Center. (Photo by Photo12/UIG/Getty Images)
American Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968) and his wife Coretta Scott King (1927 - 2006) (center, arm in arm) lead others during on the Selma to Montgomery marches held in support of voter rights, Alabama, late March, 1965. Among those with them are Reverend Ralph Abernathy (1926 - 1990) (at left, facing camera), and Pulitzer-Prize winning political scientist and diplomat Ralph Bunche (1904 - 1971) (front row, third left with glasses) whose his wife, Ruth (nee Harris, 1906 - 1988), holds his arm. (Photo by Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images)
LITHONIA, GA - FEBRUARY 7: A guest holds a program at funeral services for Coretta Scott King on February 7, 2006 at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia. Coretta Scott King, the wife of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., died January 30 at the age of 78. (Photo by Ozier Muhammad-Pool/Getty Images)
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![[UNVERIFIED CONTENT] Nelson Mandela and his former wife Winnie Mandela are guests of Coretta Scott King at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in 1990](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/cmHQQJ9niop1iITLvRza4w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/56a8f6072a00002c00031605.jpg)
