A Stone of Hope
"With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
Yesterday, ten years and a day after former president Bill Clinton signed legislation authorizing a Washington memorial commemorating the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., organizers held a groundbreaking ceremony at the monument's future site on the National Mall. The memorial will reflect Dr. King's spiritual presence through the combined display of water, stone, and other landscape elements with passages from his sermons and speeches, and with King's physical image in the "Stone of Hope." A design panel selected ROMA Design Group's concept from over 800 entrants. Harry Johnson, president of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, said the target for completion is the spring of 2008.
The King Memorial will be on the northeast corner of the Tidal Basin, on a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. In a speech at yesterday's ceremony, President George Bush said, "By its presence in this place it will unite the men who declared the promise of America and defended the promise of America with the man who redeemed the promise of America."
Donations for the $100 million cost of the memorial reached $65.5 million earlier this month. You can join me in making a contribution by visiting the memorial's official Web site today.
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Yesterday, ten years and a day after former president Bill Clinton signed legislation authorizing a Washington memorial commemorating the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., organizers held a groundbreaking ceremony at the monument's future site on the National Mall. The memorial will reflect Dr. King's spiritual presence through the combined display of water, stone, and other landscape elements with passages from his sermons and speeches, and with King's physical image in the "Stone of Hope." A design panel selected ROMA Design Group's concept from over 800 entrants. Harry Johnson, president of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, said the target for completion is the spring of 2008.
The King Memorial will be on the northeast corner of the Tidal Basin, on a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. In a speech at yesterday's ceremony, President George Bush said, "By its presence in this place it will unite the men who declared the promise of America and defended the promise of America with the man who redeemed the promise of America."
Donations for the $100 million cost of the memorial reached $65.5 million earlier this month. You can join me in making a contribution by visiting the memorial's official Web site today.
Bookmark this post on del.icio.us
Author George Brymer's comments about the leaders who get it, and those who never will.
