Everyone has a different vision of what Martin Luther King Jr. meant to the world. King was a philosopher, a preacher, a man of peace and a risk-taker. He was strong, thoughtful, intelligent and direct in his mission to spread the ideals of hope, justice and democracy for all.

We also recognize that there have always been strong and differing opinions regarding our national memorials —- from the location and aesthetics of the National World War II Memorial to what some described as the abstract design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

It is not surprising that a passionate discussion has surfaced surrounding the design of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial.

Recently, we received a letter from one member of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts expressing creative concerns about the statue of King, the Stone of Hope. The commissioner called the image "confrontational." What did not get reported was that there are seven design elements required for CFA final approval and we had received a "green light" on all but one.

While it is not unusual for the CFA and foundations similar to ours to have creative differences, we were surprised at the timing of such criticism, since we had submitted similar images of the Stone of Hope to the CFA since November.

As a result of the criticism, we scheduled a face-to-face meeting with the chairman of the CFA this week and agreed that we are not as far apart as reported. We agreed that some tweaking —- not a major overhaul —- is needed. Additionally, we were pleased to read that the CFA member who communicated this criticism told The New York Times this past weekend that he now regrets the language of the letter. We will submit an updated image at the beginning of June, and it is our hope to receive final CFA approval.

It is noted that during our design competition, which was held in 2000, our team considered more than 1,000 images and pictures of King. It was ultimately decided that the image of him with his arms folded, as portrayed by photographer Bob Fitch, was ideal. In fact, Isaac Newton Farris Jr., the nephew of King and president and chief executive officer of the King Center in Atlanta, agreed with our selection. He is quoted as saying: "My uncle was very strong and confrontational with the weapon of love and nonviolence."

Now is the time to move forward and focus on the task at hand —- to build an historic four-acre memorial honoring King, the first major memorial on the National Mall honoring a man of peace and a person of color.

King's fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, has been laboring to build this memorial for 25 years. The Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation has already raised $93 million from individuals, corporations and foundations, and we anticipate beginning construction shortly.

We have a strong and diverse team in place to build this memorial. We are proud to have McKissack & McKissack, an African-American, woman-owned architectural and construction firm, to head the design-build team.

We have a diverse design committee coordinating all aspects of the memorial's design. Ed Jackson Jr., James Chaffers and Jon Lockard, who all happen to be African-American, are closely collaborating with Lei Yixin to construct the 28-foot-tall Stone of Hope.

Also, the majority of granite will be domestic granite, and soon we will be announcing the sources of that stone.

We are confident that at the end of the day we will build a memorial that honors King's legacy and inspires visitors from across the globe.

> Harry E. Johnson is president and CEO of the Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation.