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everlastinglove_MJTopic starter

Thousands gather in DC for MLK dedication
October 16, 2011, 11:09:52 AM
Thousands gather in DC for MLK dedication
Event comes weeks after a hurricane postponed it
Jacquelyn Martin / AP



The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is seen in Washington on Aug. 22. President Barack Obama is finally getting the chance to speak during a dedication ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr. The dedication set for Sunday was originally supposed to take place in August but was postponed after Hurricane Irene swept through the Washington region.
By BRETT ZONGKER
 
updated 2 hours 34 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — Thousands of people gathered at dawn Sunday to give the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial a proper dedication on the National Mall after its opening in August.
Aretha Franklin, poet Nikki Giovanni and President Barack Obama will be among those honoring the legacy of the nation's foremost civil rights leader during a ceremony scheduled to run more than four hours.
Cherry Hawkins traveled from Houston with her cousins and arrived at 6 a.m. to be part of the dedication. They postponed earlier plans to attend the August dedication, which was postponed because of Hurricane Irene.
"I wanted to do this for my kids and grandkids," Hawkins said. She expects the memorial will be in their history books someday. "They can say, 'Oh, my granny did that.'"
Hawkins, her cousin DeAndrea Cooper and Cooper's daughter Brittani Jones, 23, visited the King Memorial on Saturday after joining a march with the Rev. Al Sharpton to urge Congress to pass a jobs bill.
"You see his face in the memorial, and it's kind of an emotional moment," Cooper said. "It's 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.
Some attendees started lining up at 5 a.m. and even earlier Sunday morning. Organizers anticipate as many as 50,000 people will attend. By 9 a.m., thousands of seats were filled, and attendees were greeted with bright sunlight.
The August ceremony had been expected to draw 250,000.
Even with the smaller crowd, King Memorial foundation president Harry Johnson called Sunday "a day of fulfillment."
About 1.5 million people are estimated to have visited the 30-foot-tall statue of King and the granite walls where 14 of his quotations are carved in stone. The memorial is the first on the National Mall honoring a black leader.
The sculpture of King with his arms crossed appears to emerge from a stone extracted from a mountain. 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 "Dream" speech during the March on Washington galvanized the civil rights movement.
King's older sister, Christine King Farris, said she witnessed a baby become "a great hero to humanity." She said the memorial will ensure her brother's legacy will provide a source of inspiration worldwide for generations.
"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. To young people in the crowd, she said King's message is that "Great dreams can come true and America is the place where you can make it happen."
King's daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, said her family is proud to witness the memorial's dedication. She said it was a long time coming and had been a priority for her mother, Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006.
"Today represents another milestone in the life of America," Bernice King said.
King's son Martin Luther King III also was to speak. The choir from King's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta was scheduled to sing.
The nation's first black president, who was just 6 years old when King was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, Tenn., will speak about the man he has said "gave his life serving others."
Giovanni planned to read her poem "In the Spirit of Martin," and Franklin was to sing.
Early in the ceremony, during a rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the crowd cheered when images on screen showed Obama on the night he won the 2008 presidential election.
Organizers announced a concert will follow the dedication, featuring Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow and others.
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I catched some strong quotes of Pres. Obama: “This day is the day to celebrate the dream to have a vision of unity”
"We have got keep pushing what it's ought to be! "

I'm still listening. I think it's a moving, impressive and inspiring memorial about Dr. King of Pres. Obama.

L.O.V.E. & Unity
Last Edit: October 16, 2011, 11:49:19 AM by everlastinglove_MJ
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everlastinglove_MJTopic starter

Re: Thousands gather in DC for MLK dedication
October 16, 2011, 11:16:20 AM
I hope I'm able to add the written version of the speech here soon.
 
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everlastinglove_MJTopic starter

Re: Thousands gather in DC for MLK dedication
October 16, 2011, 11:48:04 AM
Obama salutes the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.       
By You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, USA TODAY   Updated  2m ago       
President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama make their way to the stage at Sunday's dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall.
By Mandel Ngan, AFP
President Obama hailed civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday as a man who proved that "change can come if you don't give up."The nation's first African American president used the dedication of King's memorial on the National Mall as a time to call upon today's leaders to see the best in each other as they seek to create jobs and justice for all Americans.
"As tough as times may be, I know we will overcome," Obama said. "I know there are better times ahead. I know this because of the man towering over us."
Obama's speech was widely anticipated because of his unique perspective. He visited the memorial with his family -- and without the media -- on Friday night. Then on Sunday morning, he walked slowly around its perimeter, alternately holding hands with daughters Malia and Sasha as memorial officials conducted a brief tour.
The president was just six years old when King was assassinated in 1968, but he has said the civil rights leader blazed a path for him to follow.
"An earthquake and a hurricane may have delayed this day, but this is a day that will not be denied," Obama said of the dedication that was originally slated for late August.
He called it a celebration of King's return to the national mall, where he delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" speech nearly 50 years ago.
"In this place he will stand for all time among monuments to those who founded this nation and those who defended it," the president said, calling King someone who "stirred our conscience" and "made our union more perfect."
Without King's words, "we might not have had the courage to come as far as we have," Obama said, calling America "more fair and more free and more just" today.
But the president also reminded those listening -- including his daughters -- that King and his colleagues in the civil rights movement had countless setbacks at the hands of billy clubs and fire hoses, jail cells and bomb threats.
"Nearly 50 years after the Marth on Washington, our work, Dr. King's work, is not yet complete," he said. "We gather here at a moment of great challenge and great change."
Obama noted that a decade of rising inequality and stagnant wages has left rising poverty and millions out of work.
"Our work is not done," he said. "And so on this day ... let us draw strength from those earlier struggles."
"Let us rememember that change has never been quick, change has never been simple or without controversy."
"Let us not be trapped be what is ... we've got to keep pushing for what ought to be, the America we ought to leave for our children."
Dr. King "belongs on this mall because he saw what we might become," Obama said.
"Let us keep striving. Let us keep struggling. Let us keep climbing towards that promised land."

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 /bravo/
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