Yesterday the skies shed tears for Martin Luther King with Hurricane Irene pouring down. After 27 years in the making, a memorial to him opened to the public on the 48th anniversary of his “I have a dream” speech.
The Washington Mall was always a sacred place for monuments dedicated to ex-presidents so okaying a spot for an African-American who was just a “common” man was remarkable; Of course he was an amazing man of peace who changed America for the better.
The MLK memorial was conceived in 1987 by members of the Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest African-American fraternity in the US and authorized by Congress in 1996. The sculpture shows King emerging from rough stone with his brow furrowed, arms crossed and looking out over the horizon. Long granite walls flanking the sides feature 14 of King’s most famous quotes.
The Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin wanted to show him deep in thought and named it the Stone of Hope. The words were borrowed from his speech “From a mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
King proves that one person can truly change a nation.