Memorial to King dedicated by Obama
Source: Agencies |
October 17, 2011, Monday
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US President Barack Obama saluted Martin Luther King Jr yesterday as a man who "stirred our conscience" when he dedicated a monument to the slain civil rights leader's life and work.
"I know we will overcome," Obama said, standing by the imposing granite monument honoring King on the National Mall in Washington DC. "I know this because of the man towering over us."
Obama and his wife, Michelle, and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, joined a host of civil rights figures for the dedication.
"He had faith in us," said Obama, who was six years old when King was assassinated in 1968. "And that is why he belongs on this mall - because he saw what we might become."
Obama credits King with paving his way to the White House. Before his remarks, the president left a copy of his inaugural speech in a time capsule at the monument site.
Crowds began to gather at dawn at the site, just to the southeast of the steps where King delivered his historic "I have a dream" speech in 1963. Designed as what King described as a stone of hope hewn from a mountain of despair, it is the first memorial to a black man on the National Mall and its parks.
Aretha Franklin and poet Nikki Giovanni were among those honoring King's legacy.
Cherry Hawkins traveled from Houston with her cousins to be part of the dedication. "I wanted to do this for my kids and grandkids," she said.
Hawkins, her cousin DeAndrea Cooper and Cooper's daughter Brittani Jones, 23, arrived at the memorial on Saturday after joining a march with civil rights leader Rev Al Sharpton to urge Congress to pass a jobs bill.
Cooper said: "You see his face in the memorial, and it is kind of an emotional moment. It is beautiful. They did a wonderful job."
A stage for speakers and thousands of folding chairs were set up on a field near the memorial, along with large TV screens.
The dedication had been postponed from August because of a hurricane.
The sculpture of King with his arms crossed appears to emerge from the stone. It was carved by Chinese artist Lei Yixin. The design was inspired by a line from the famous "I have a dream" speech in 1963 - "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."
King's older sister, Christine King Farris, said: "He was my little brother, and I watched him grow and develop into a man who was destined for a special kind of greatness," she said.
"I know we will overcome," Obama said, standing by the imposing granite monument honoring King on the National Mall in Washington DC. "I know this because of the man towering over us."
Obama and his wife, Michelle, and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, joined a host of civil rights figures for the dedication.
"He had faith in us," said Obama, who was six years old when King was assassinated in 1968. "And that is why he belongs on this mall - because he saw what we might become."
Obama credits King with paving his way to the White House. Before his remarks, the president left a copy of his inaugural speech in a time capsule at the monument site.
Crowds began to gather at dawn at the site, just to the southeast of the steps where King delivered his historic "I have a dream" speech in 1963. Designed as what King described as a stone of hope hewn from a mountain of despair, it is the first memorial to a black man on the National Mall and its parks.
Aretha Franklin and poet Nikki Giovanni were among those honoring King's legacy.
Cherry Hawkins traveled from Houston with her cousins to be part of the dedication. "I wanted to do this for my kids and grandkids," she said.
Hawkins, her cousin DeAndrea Cooper and Cooper's daughter Brittani Jones, 23, arrived at the memorial on Saturday after joining a march with civil rights leader Rev Al Sharpton to urge Congress to pass a jobs bill.
Cooper said: "You see his face in the memorial, and it is kind of an emotional moment. It is beautiful. They did a wonderful job."
A stage for speakers and thousands of folding chairs were set up on a field near the memorial, along with large TV screens.
The dedication had been postponed from August because of a hurricane.
The sculpture of King with his arms crossed appears to emerge from the stone. It was carved by Chinese artist Lei Yixin. The design was inspired by a line from the famous "I have a dream" speech in 1963 - "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."
King's older sister, Christine King Farris, said: "He was my little brother, and I watched him grow and develop into a man who was destined for a special kind of greatness," she said.
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