MLK Memorial dedication week honors lifelong crusade

A long-awaited memorial for Atlanta's most famous native son and the movement he led opens later this month on the National Mall in Washington.

The official dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial will take place on Aug. 28, putting the renowned civil rights leader in the pantheon of national heroes previously reserved for presidents.

The four-acre site on the northwest corner of the Tidal Basin adjacent to the Roosevelt Memorial is designed to create a visual “line of leadership” from the Lincoln Memorial to the Jefferson Memorial.

Here in Atlanta, institutions deeply linked to King will join the celebrations, hosting a local tribute and sending bus loads of celebrants to Washington.

The memorial was initially proposed in the early 1980s and pushed by a small group members from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., which King was a member. King’s widow, Coretta, and others joined the crusade, and the project was approved in 1998. The memorial’s address is 1964 Independence Ave. -- a reference to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The dedication coincides with the 48th anniversary of The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which King led in 1963. It was the occasion for his acclaimed “I Have a Dream” speech.

Locally, Morehouse College, King’s alma mater, has been at the forefront of continuing King’s legacy. The college will host a musical tribute culminating the dedication week events. On Aug. 6, the college will host a roundtable discussion on King's life at 5 p.m. in William H. Danford Chapel.

The AJC sat down with Morehouse College President Robert M. Franklin to discuss the memorial's significance.

Q: What was Morehouse’s role in getting the memorial built?

A: We were supporters of U.S. Rep. John Conyers’ bill to establish the national King Day holiday. After that members of the school’s trustee board, including [former Atlanta Mayor] Maynard Jackson, began quietly lobbying Congress members on the importance of this effort. The college has also been supportive of Coretta’s leadership as she sought to carry this forward. Our role has been behind-the-scenes influence and advocacy.

Q: How is Morehouse preparing the next generation of leaders?

A: On our campus we have monuments of Dr. King and [former Morehouse President] Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, one of Dr. King’s greatest inspirations. We use these monuments as sort of sacred symbols to inspire men as to what they can become. We also talk about  the five “wells,” which every student here strives to be: well read, well spoken, well traveled, well dressed and well balanced. We think Dr. King embodied these five wells and that’s what made him a renaissance man with a social conscience. College education should not only promote one’s own economic success, but should also advance the entire community, and we try to do that from day one.

Q: What is left to do to fulfill King’s legacy?

A: First we have to celebrate this extraordinary achievement. The hundreds of years of struggle for racial justice, for eradicating slavery and Jim Crow, they worked, they won, and this monument is kind of a trophy for the winners. It is also important to protect the gains and achievements and to focus on the very sobering realities and the need to close the disparity gaps between the races. One thing Dr. King kept pointing us to is that this must become an international movement. King was a globalist, and Americans are slowly moving to embrace the world, but not nearly quickly enough.

About the memorial

• Visitors will enter through an opening in a boulder, called the "Mountain of Despair,"  meant to symbolize the civil rights struggle.
• The memorial is designed as a full sensory experience with several passages taken from King's sermons and speeches, water and stone landscaping and King's appearance hewn from granite in the "Stone of Hope."
• The memorial does not include King's well-known dream speech, but other lesser known works.

Public events

• Aug. 22: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial officially opens to the public, 11 a.m.
• Aug. 25: Civil Rights Pioneers Luncheon – A luncheon honoring civil rights and social justice leaders, Washington Convention Center, noon, tickets $85.
• Aug. 25-28: Public Expo –- Information booths, performances and a tribute to King's legacy, Washington Convention Center, free.
• Aug. 25: Civil Rights Concert -- Washington Convention Center, 8 p.m., tickets $65, $100.
• Aug. 26: Women's Luncheon -- Honoring the women of the Civil Rights Movement, Washington Convention Center, noon, tickets $85.
• Aug. 27: Dream Gala -- The premiere VIP formal event of the dedication, featuring donors, dignitaries and honored supporters, Washington Convention Center, 6 p.m., tickets $125, $250
• Aug. 28: Pre-Dedication Musical Tribute -- West Potomac Park, 10 a.m., free
• Aug. 28: Official Dedication Ceremony -- West Potomac Park, 11 a.m., free
• Aug. 28: Post-Dedication Concert -- West Potomac Park, 2 p.m., free

For ticketed events, visit www.dedicatethedream.org to purchase

Additional Dedication Week events

• Aug. 27: Mass March for Jobs and Justice --  Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network will lead a march and rally with national leaders and clergy members to assess the civil rights progress and march for the battles that still lay ahead. The march is co-hosted by nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner from The Tom Joyner Morning Show. Rally: noon, Constitution Ave. NW and 17th Street SW; march: 1:30 p.m. to the King Memorial site. Information: 877-626-4651, www.nationalactionnetwork.net
• Aug. 27: Networking Social -- The Southern Christian Leadership Conference's networking event for nonprofit, social justice and service organizations featuring musical performances by P.J. Morton and a tribute to former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young; Stephanie Brown, national field director of the NAACP's Youth and College Division; and SCLC board member Don Cash. Current Lounge, 1215 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC; 6 p.m.; tickets, $20: 404-522-1420, www.sclcnational.org
• Aug. 28: Memorial Concert -- Morehouse's musical tribute to Dr. King, hosted by actor Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, and featuring performances by Eddie Levert, Dennis Edwards and Johnny Gill; with special presentations to Stevie Wonder and Congressman John Conyers. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; 7 p.m.; tickets: 202-467-4600, http://giving.morehouse.edu/netcommunity/mlkconcert

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