The new statue honoring civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was unveiled in Washington, D.C., on Monday. It is the first memorial on the National Mall not dedicated to a war, president or white man. The memorial is located on a four-acre site on the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. The MLK memorial consists of a 30-foot sculpture of King. On either side of the mountain, a 450-foot-long wall is inscribed with 14 quotations from the famous orator’s speeches, sermons and writings. The sculpture was made in China by the sculptor Master Lei Yixin. Harry Johnson is president of the Martin Luther King Memorial Project.
Harry E. Johnson, Sr., president and CEO of Martin Luther King Memorial Project Foundation: "America is diversified, so when you come and see Jefferson, Lincoln and Washington in D.C., it’s not just one race of people. It’s not just these old guys who you read about, but here’s somebody who people may have touched, may have shook his hand, and he is an up-to-date hero that changed this country and made this country and now the world look more diversified as a way we see ourselves."
MLK National Monument Inspires Calls to Continue Civil Rights Leader’s Work to End Poverty and War
This week, the public got its first look at a newly unveiled memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., that honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is the first memorial on the National Mall not dedicated to a war, president or white man. The threat of Hurricane Irene has forced organizers to postpone the planned dedication of memorial on Sunday, which was to have been attended by 250,000 people, including President Barack Obama. The dedication ceremony was to have taken place on the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, when Dr. King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Despite the storm, a related Rally for Jobs and Justice will proceed tomorrow, ending with a march to the King Memorial. We speak with longtime civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, president and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, and with Dr. Vincent Harding, a longtime friend and a former speechwriter for Dr. King. He co-wrote his famous "Beyond Vietnam" address. Harding reads from a Carl Wendell Hines poem written shortly after Dr. King’s assassination and notes that "Dead men make such convenient heroes... It is easier to build monuments than to build a better world."
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/26/mlk_national_monument_inspires_calls_to
Reverend Jackson is also president and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. And we’re joined in Denver, Colorado, by Dr. Vincent Harding, who was a longtime friend and former speechwriter for Dr. King, who wrote his famous "Beyond Vietnam" address. He’s also chair of the Veterans of Hope project. Dr. Harding is author of several books, including Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero.
Cornel West had a piece in today’s—an op-ed piece in today’s New York Times titled "Reverend King Would Be Weeping" ["Dr. King Weeps from His Grave"]. And the thrust of his column was that this symbol and memorial to Dr. King comes at the same time that so many of the substance of the issues that Dr. King raised, especially in his final days, are being ignored or even—the country is turning its back on those issues that Dr. King raised. Your reaction to this irony that Cornel West raises?
Maya Angelou: MLK Memorial Makes Him Sound Like 'Arrogant Twit'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/31/maya-angelou-mlk-quote_n_943567.html
Poet and author Maya Angelou is taking issue with a paraphrased quotation from Martin Luther King Jr. inscribed in his new memorial in Washington, saying the shortened version makes the civil rights leader sound like an "arrogant twit" because it's out of context.
The words were from a sermon King delivered Feb. 4, 1968, at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, two months before he was assassinated, about a eulogy that could be given when he died.
King said, "Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."
On Tuesday, Angelou, who consulted on the memorial, told The Washington Post (http://wapo.st/o74pLU) that the shortened version of those words sounds egotistical and should be changed.
It reads: "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness."
Read the whole story: The Washington Post
Read the whole story: The Washington Post
The phrase is inscribed on a statue of King without quotation marks because it is paraphrased. It is not grouped with 14 quotations from King that are part of the memorial plaza.
The paraphrased version "minimizes the man," said the 83-year-old Angelou. "It makes him seem less than the humanitarian he was. ... It makes him seem an egotist."
In His Own Words: Dr. King's Leadership Legacy for Economic Justice
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/clarence-b-jones/labor-day-jobs_b_939827.html
There have been lots of blogs, news articles and editorials commenting on the King Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and the postponement of its official opening last week because of Hurricane Irene. August 29, 2011, TheNew York Times wrote an editorial captioned "Dr. King's Dreams." They reminded us that the 'Dream' speech occurred at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. They continued in their editorial to note that "In the following years, until he was assassinated in 1968, Dr. King focused primarily on the need for economic justice and the grim problem of poverty that remains so significant for all races today."
"Bill of Rights for the Disadvantaged," originally proposed by Dr. King.
The MLK Monument: A Reminder of Dreams Yet Unfulfilled
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/mlk-monument-dc_b_936345.html
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