‘Mountain of Despair’ and ‘Stone of Hope’: the MLK Memorial
Practical Politics
On August 28, 2011, a day chosen to celebrate the 48th anniversary of Dr. King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech on the Washington Mall, another major milestone will occur. For the first time in American history, a centerpiece construction of a permanent stone and bronze monument will be erected in the nation’s capital for an African American who was not a former American president.
Pulled together by project president Harry Johnson, the exceedingly renowned architecture and design firm of McKissack and McKissack, and with the help of literally thousands of others, this has been and continues to be a project-in-progress to marvel at and praise for what it has been able to get done.
A fuller story of the triumph of persistence and faith represented by the memorial team will be told in Our Weekly as Aug. 28 approaches. This first article is to prepare Californians and the rest of the country for this tremendous event. Most of the tickets for seats and space close to the action are already gone (I know, nobody told you anything), but the standing-room area is yet available and many thousands are expected to attend. If you decide this is another “have-to-be-there-moment,” as President Obama’s inauguration was, we strongly suggest that you go ahead and get a hotel room now, and plan to take Washington, D.C.’s, public transportation—bus or subway—to get within the one mile distance you will have to walk to get to the site.
More than $120 million will have been raised for the monument, which will be constructed on a four-acre area that faces the Potomac River, surrounded by at least 185 newly planted cherry trees. The memorial will be a combination of 159 structural elements to represent the three themes recognized as Dr. King’s defining legacy in the United State of America: his fight for justice, equality and peace. The major sculpture of Dr. King will be created by Chinese-American artist Lei Yixin, including the pieces “Mountain of Despair” and “Stone of Hope.”
Celebrities involved (donations, fundraising, advocacy, etc.) include a veritable who’s who of progressive causes, and some wholly unexpected. Familiar names like Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah, Laila Ali, Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Clarence Avant, Angela Bassett, Richard Brooks, Roger Aaron Brown, Tommy Davidson, Suzzanne Douglas, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Tracey Edmonds, Laurence Fishburne, Antwone Fisher, Harrison Ford, George Foreman, Vivica A. Fox, Dennis Haysbert, Dule Hill, Dustin Hoffman, Ernie Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson, Anne Marie Johnson, Stevie Wonder and other such luminaries we knew would be there. Chris Brown we would not have predicted, nor Chris Webber and Jerry Stackhouse, for that matter, but for different reasons. Many more will soon join in as Aug. 28 gets closer. People tend to rally around a winner, in politics and in life.
Similarly, as corporate sponsors, each donating from $50,000 to $3.5 million, one would expect Travelers Insurance, DuPont, JPMorgan Chase, Boeing, Disney, Ford, MetLife, Coca Cola, Nationwide, AARP, Wal Mart, FedEx and State Farm, among others, to contribute handsomely to such a positive project. Tommy Hilfiger was a surprising member of the donations list, as was Toyota, given what The Sentinel recently printed about them.
Anyway, Black people, with the help of many but administered by us, coordinated and organized a truly fitting memorial for Dr. King.
McKissack & McKissack is a Black female-owned and operated top 10 recognized, full-service architecture and program/construction management firm. Deryl McKissack, the CEO, is part of the fifth generation of McKissack architectural designers. We will devote more time to them in the next installment.
You have been informed. A magnificent party of celebration is coming, of him, of us and of this country’s future. Put on your high steppers for this one.
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.
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