Marion King Jackson, civil rights figure, dies at 74

<p>Marion King Jackson, who became a rallying point in the civil rights movement after a kick by a deputy caused her to miscarry, died Tuesday during heart surgery at Piedmont Hospital, family members said.</p><p>The 74-year-old King Jackson was an assistant city attorney in Atlanta during the administrations of mayors Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young.</p><p>Born Marion Louise Townsend in Valdosta Sept. 12, 1932, she was a graduate of Spelman College and Mercer University Law School. In the mid-1950s, she settled in Albany and married Slater King Sr., a member of a prominent civil rights family and a leader of the movement in Albany.</p><p>On July 22, 1962, she traveled to the Mitchell County Jail in Camilla to take food to jailed demonstrators. She was told to leave, pushed to the ground, and kicked in the stomach by a sheriff's deputy. Six months pregnant, she lost consciousness and later miscarried.</p><p>The next day, hundreds marched through Albany's streets in protest, galvanizing support for the movement in southwest Georgia.</p><p>A graveside service was scheduled for Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at Hillandale Memorial Gardens in Lithonia. On Saturday, a memorial service will be held at the Bahai Unity Center in Decatur.</p>