Saturday, January 29, 2011

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial being installed on the national mall

The memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. is being installed on the mall in Washington, D.C. located between the Lincoln and the Jefferson Memorials.

The statue of Dr. King shows him standing, arms folded, emerging from the block of stone. The statue was carved in China and shipped to Washington.  It is designed around the physical features of water, stone, and trees. The four themes of the memorial are Democracy, Justice, Hope and Love.

As expected with such a great man, there has been some controversy surrounding the design and the location, but it is difficult to get the full grasp of the final effect by looking at models and drawings.  When the Viet Nam Memorial was built, there were many people who objected to its simplicity, and to the fact that it was not designed by an American artist. However, anyone who has been to that memorial in person will recognize how moving it is.

Let’s hope that this new memorial to Dr. King will have the same effect on the visitors who will flock to this new statue and its surroundings.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Source Examiner.com: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial being installed on the national mall - Washington DC history | Examiner.com

MLK National Memorial Virtual Tour

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