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Thousands of people spanning all ages and races honoured the legacy of the nation’s foremost civil rights leader during a formal dedication of the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington.
Aretha Franklin, poet Nikki Giovanni and President Barack Obama were among those who attended the more than four-hour ceremony. King’s children and other leaders spoke before the president, invoking his “I Have a Dream” speech and calling upon a new generation to help fully realize that dream.
The crowd, some of whom came out as early as 5am (10am Sunday, NZ time), included people of all ages and races. Some women wore large Sunday hats for the occasion.
The president arrived late morning with his wife and two daughters, which drew loud cheers from those watching his entrance on large screens.
Cherry Hawkins travelled from Houston with her cousins and arrived at 6am to be part of the dedication. They postponed earlier plans to attend the August dedication, which was postponed because of Hurricane Irene.
“I wanted to do this for my kids and grandkids,” Hawkins said. She expects the memorial will be in their history books someday. “They can say, ‘Oh, my granny did that.'”
Hawkins, her cousin DeAndrea Cooper and Cooper’s daughter Brittani Jones, 23, visited the King Memorial on Saturday after joining a march with the Rev. Al Sharpton to urge Congress to pass a jobs bill.
“You see his face in the memorial, and it’s kind of an emotional moment,” Cooper said. “It’s beautiful. They did a wonderful job.”
Actress Cicely Tyson said her contemporaries are passing the torch to a new generation and passed the microphone to 12-year-old Amandla Stenberg. The girl recalled learning about the civil rights movement in school and named four young girls killed in a 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Ala.
“As Dr King said at their funeral, ‘They didn’t live long lives, but they lived meaningful lives,'” Amandla said. “I plan to live a meaningful life, too.”
About 1.5 million people are estimated to have visited the 10-metre-tall statue of King and the granite walls where 14 of his quotations are carved in stone. The memorial is the first on the National Mall honouring a black leader.
- Read more: www.stuff.co.nz
- Image: Bakersfield Now
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