WikiPortallus: Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial.html

The Martin Luther King Jr., National Memorial is a planned memorial, spearheaded by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, to be constructed in Washington, D.C. as a permanent testament to American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. The memorial will have three underlying themes: justice, democracy and hope — highlighted by the use of water, stone and trees respectively throughout the memorial.

King will be the first black man honored with his own memorial in the National Mall area and the third non-president to be commemorated in such a way. The King Memorial will be administered by the National Park Service.

Location and structure

A number of the niches will be left open and incomplete, allowing additional niches to be dedicated as new events unfold in the dynamic civil rights movement.

History

Controversy

Delays

In 2001, the foundation's efforts to build the memorial were stalled because the civil rights leader's family wanted the foundation to pay licensing fees to use his name and likeness in marketing campaigns. The memorial foundation, beset by delays and a languid pace of donations has stated, "the last thing it needs is to pay an onerous fee to the King family. Joseph Lowery, past president of the King-founded Southern Christian Leadership Conference stated in the The Washington Post, "If nobody's going to make money off of it, why should anyone get a fee?"⁴ The family pledged that any money derived would go back to the King Center's charitable efforts. Eventually an agreement was reached between the foundation and the King Family, and no fee was paid.

Sculptor and stone choice

It was announced in January 2007 that Lei Yixin, an artist from the People's Republic of China, would sculpt the centerpiece of the memorial including the statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.⁵ and the "Stone of Hope". The commission was criticised by human rights activist Harry Wu on the grounds that Lei had sculpted Mao Zedong. It also stirred accusations that it was based on financial considerations, that the Chinese Government would make a $25 million donation to help meet the projected shortfall. The president of the foundation, Harry E. Johnson, who first met Lei in a sculpting workshop in Saint Paul, Minnesota, states that the final selection was done by a mostly African American design team and was based solely on artistic ability.⁶

Gilbert Young, a renowned African American artist for a work of art entitled He Ain't Heavy, led a protest against the decision to hire Lei by launching the website King Is Ours.⁷ Human rights activist and arts advocate Ann Lau and American stone carver Clint Button joined Young and national talk show host Joe Madison in advancing the protest when the use of Chinese granite was discovered.⁸ Lau has stated "The People's Republic of China has the worst human and civil rights records in the world, and "the granite used for the statue probably will be mined by workers laboring in unsafe and unfair conditions, the human rights activist said."⁹. In an interview for The Herald of Vermont, Button said the fact that $10 million in federal monies has been authorized for the King project should mean that it must put it out for open bid. The U.S. industry, he said, never had a chance to bid on the piece even though $10 million in federal funds were allocated to the monument, no American companies were allowed to bid on the project.¹⁰. The memorial's design team visited China in October 2006 to inspect potential granite to be used.¹¹

The King Is Ours petition demands that an African American artist and American granite be used for the national monument to honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Dr. King was for fairness and justice, especially for black people." Gilbert Young stated on CNN. "There is not ONE national memorial, not ONE monument to a leader or historical event in China, Russia, France, Italy, India, Germany—go ahead and name them all—that has the name of an African American artist engraved in its base. It’s probably not that they don’t like us or appreciate our abilities. It’s that a commission of such importance is a legacy for a country and its countrymen. Why should the King Monument be any different?"⁷

Wide national and international coverage of the controversy resulted in numerous interviews on CNN and on national radio, including the Joe Madison show [1], broadcast from Washington D.C. and on XM Radio 69. Reports were also broadcast on internet radio and on the BBC. Articles on the King Is Ours protest have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Black Enterprise, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The New York Times, and Der Spiegel. After a press conference in Barre, Vermont that included members of King Is Ours as well as John Costaldo, executive director of the Barre Granite Association, master stone carvers, members of the granite and steelworkers unions, and the Mayor of Barre, Tom Lauzon, The Times Argus newspaper ran the headline "Press conference on Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial draws enthusiastic crowd".¹². Granite workers claimed "King Is Ours" in articles in Burlington, Vermont papers¹³,and on October 29, 2007, the California NAACP passed a Resolution at their State Conference supporting the King Is Ours movement. Headlines read, "State NAACP Joins Protest of Chinese artist chosen for MLK monument."¹⁴. Resolution #11 reads, in part: "Therefore be it resolved, the California State Conference of the NAACP demands that the decision to use Lei Yixin, from the People’s Republic of China, an artist renowned for glorifying Mao Zedong be overturned; and denounces the decision to use granite quarried using slave labor, and demands that stone for the monument to Dr. King be quarried and carved in America."¹⁵.

In May 2008, the United States Commission of Fine Arts, which has final approval on all elements of the memorial, raised concerns about "the colossal scale and Social Realist style of the proposed sculpture" noting that it "recalls a genre of political sculpture that has recently been pulled down in other countries." The letter, and the ensuing publicity, brought the controversial use of Chinese slave labor in marble and a Chinese sculptor to the attention of the greater public.¹⁶

References

^ "Viacom Named Title Sponsor of 'The Dream Concert' to Honor Martin Luther King, Jr. and Support National Memorial in Washington, DC". Viacom. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
^ "NAR Donates $1 Million to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial". National Association of Realtors. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
^ Delta Air Lines: The Dream Lives On: Delta's Force for Global Good Leads Fundraising Campaign (Retrieved January 21, 2008
^ Fears, Darryl (2002-04-08). "Entrepreneurship of Profiteering? Critics Say King's Family Is Dishonoring His Legacy", jessejacksonjr.org. Retrieved on 20 October 2007.
^ "Chinese master sculptor to produce MLK memorial carving". CNN (2007-02-15).
^ Cha, Ariana Eunjung (2007-08-14). "A King Statue 'Made in China'?". Arts & Living. The Washington Post.
^ ^a ^b Young, Gilbert; Lea Winfrey Young. "King is Ours". The He Ain't Heavy Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
^ Lau, Ann (2007-09-18). "Dissing MLK". National Review. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
^ 2007-08-24 International Herald Tribune, "Martin Luther King, Jr. monument planners criticized for selecting Chinese sculptor for job"
^ 2007-11-15, The Randolph Herald, "Button: Event raised profile of MLK project"
^ "History of the Memorial". Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
^ 2007-11-08, Times Argus
^ 2007-11-09, Burlington Free Press
^ 2007-11-28, San Francisco Chronicle
^ 2007-10-29, California State NAACP Resolution #11
^ Shaila Dewan. ""Larger Than Life, More to Fight Over"". New York Times, New York Times, Inc. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.

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