
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial is supposed to be huge. The site for it is a FOUR-ACRE PLOT, not far from the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. It’s about time right!?
Water, stone and trees are the primary elements in a design that is inspired by a line in the “I Have A Dream” speech: “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”
“In the original design for the MLK memorial, a bust of King emerges almost organically out of the side of the Stone of Hope. To get to the stone, a visitor would walk through two rocks symbolizing the Mountain of Despair.” (NPR.org)
The new design, shown above, has MLK with his arms crossed. The organization that approves everything built on the National Mall, The US Fine Arts Commission, says that the new statue has changed MLK’s character from “meditative” to “confrontational.”
I’m not really sure what exactly they want him to look like. Maybe they want him smiling and holding an American flag or something. The man FOUGHT against prejudice and inequality, he FOUGHT against the supression of freedom and rights….why would you want him to look as though he was just another man and NOT someone who OPPOSED the direction in which the US was headed? I don’t know.
Plus, the sculptor is a Chinese man. One would think he has no bias towards an aggressive MLK over a timid MLK.
I don’t think he should look angry, but I dont think he should be smiling either. I like this new design the way it is.
May 12, 2008
Categories: Yupp Lounge, culture, news, politics . Tags: martin luther king, martin luther king jr., mlk, mlk memorial, national mall, national memorial, sculpture, us fine arts commission . Author: Dr. Dapo . Comments: No Comments