Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial: “I Have a Dream”

On Monday, August 22^nd, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D. C. was opened for visitors. The official dedication of the memorial was scheduled to take place on Sunday, August 28^th (indefinitely posted by Hurricane Irene), the 48^th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom before over 200,000 people. The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation notes that this is the first memorial on the National Mall “to honor a man of hope, a man of peace, and a man of color.” The memorial, according to the project’s mission statement, honors Dr. King for “his national and international contributions to world peace through non-violent social change.” A virtual tour of the memorial is available on the Foundation’s website.

The 120 million dollar memorial is located on the Tidal Basin adjacent to the FDR Memorial, and its line of sight connects it with the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials. The project was launched in 1996 when President Clinton signed a resolution to build a memorial in honor of Dr. King. Groundbreaking for the project took place on November 13, 2006. The origins of the idea for memorial is traceable to January, 1984, when George Sealy met with four fellow Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity brothers to develop a proposal for building a national King memorial.  As with most projects of this type, it origins were small and informal. It then had to proceed through numerous associational and institutional gates as public and private support for the project was developed. The bureaucratic and procedural steps involved were formidable; and the long process had many controversial elements, including its design, the selection of Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin, the use of Chinese granite, and the $800,000 of licensing fees charged to the Foundation by the King family for the use of Dr. King’s words and image in fundraising materials. McKissack & McKissack/Turner/Gilford/ Tompkins are the design-build team. All the principals are American, and many have strong connections with businesses owned by minorities and women, or are principals in these businesses.  Such are the backstage considerations.

Center stage is the memorial itself as it honors the man, his vision, his values, and his actions. A paragraph from the “I Have a Dream” speech inspired design elements:

“With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”

The entryway to the memorial is through two stone granite structures shaped like a mountain (the Mountain of Despair). Through it, visible on the horizon is a granite monolith (the Stone of Hope) symbolically separated from the mountain. The design emphasizes the monolithic struggle that has been taking place. As visitors approach the Stone of Hope, the following text from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream speech” is chiseled, “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” On the other side is a reflective comment by Dr. King, “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.”

It is out of the Stone of Hope that Dr. King’s likeness is sculpted looking out over the Tidal Basin. The gaze is intended to share a vision of the future for which citizens strive to achieve justice and equality. Connected with the Mountain of Despair is a 450-foot curved inscription wall which features fourteen quotes from Dr. King. The quotes were selected to act as a platform to contemplate messages about “Justice, Democracy, Hope and Love.” None of the quotes are taken from the “I Have a Dream” speech. Reasons given for not including elements from the speech are space limitations and a desire to share less well-known observations by Dr. King. The open elements of the memorial are enhanced by Yoshino cherry blossom trees which were a gift from Japan in 1912 and are meant to be a living sign of unity and peace. The foundation contributed another 182 cherry blossom trees. The trees blossom each year in the spring and the peak period for blossoming is around the same time of Dr. King’s assassination on April 4^th, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee at the Lorraine Motel, which is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum. The motel as an artifact of a tragic event still has the feeling of pathos haunting it.

The Telegraph incorporates an interesting short video showing the statue in its article about the Memorial. I have mixed feeling about the statue. My memories of Dr. King are different from the characteristics captured in the 30-foot statue. Dr. King is shown bigger/huskier and sterner than I recall; and his crossed arms holding papers in his left hand send mixed signals. Yes, he was resolute, yet he was outgoing. While I remember him as being determined and resolute, I don’t have an image of sternness. The depiction of Dr. King offered by Lei Yixin was challenged during a U. S. Commission of Arts review in May of 2008 where some members thought that the statue looked more like a socialist leader than a non-violent protest leader. The Commission asked Lei Yixin to rework some elements of his rendering.

I would hope that anyone who visits the memorial would also revisit the “I Have a Dream” speech, remarkable in its form and content. It demonstrates how social transformation can be imagined and enacted through a powerful speaker, delivering forceful message. Dr. King presented a compelling reason for change; identified an inspiring vision; shared his values (the MLK National Memorial Foundation cites: courage/truth, unconditional love/ forgiveness, justice/ equality, reconciliation/peace); identified the sources of legitimation; and offered a call for action. Dr. King’s voice and body amplified his charismatic message. The moving tone of the speech builds throughout its approximate 17-minutes; and ends with:

“And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”