This weekend I got the opportunity to see a memorial in downtown DC I had never seen before! I visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial seen in the picture. The memorial is located on the National Mall near the Tidal Basin which is a central location for tourists.
This memorial is significant because Dr. King is the first African-American honored with a memorial on the National Mall, and he is only the fourth non-President to be memorialized this way. The President of the memorial foundation, Harry E. Johnson, said "the memorial will be a public sanctuary where future generations of Americans, regardless of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, can come to honor Dr. King." Seen through Harry Johnson's words, the memorial is a public space. Although it is a public space, it was privately funded. Because the memorial was privately funded, it took more than twenty years to fund and then ultimately build.
There are fourteen quotes from Dr. King's speeches, sermons, and writings inscribed on the Inscription Wall of the memorial. These quotes are important to any community because they focus on universal issues like justice, democracy, hope, and love. I think that the ultimate purpose of this memorial is to remember Dr. King's influence on the civil rights movement, and to honor his life. It is up to each person though to decide for themselves what they will take away from viewing the memorial.
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