The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is a national memorial in West Potomac Park next to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Columbia, United States. It is spread over four acres (1.6 acres) and contains its Stone of Hope, a granite statue of Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr. It was carved by the sculptor Lei Yixin. The inspiration for the memorial design comes from a line in King’s “I Have a Dream” speech: “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” The memorial was officially opened to all on the 22nd of August 2011, following more than two years of planning, fundraising, and building.
The national memorial is located in the 395th United States National Park Service unit. The monumental memorial is located in the northwestern corner of Tidal Basin, close to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, along a sightline that connects with the Lincoln Memorial to the northwest and the Jefferson Memorial to the southeast. The official address for the monument is 1964 Independence Avenue, S.W. It is dedicated to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
A memorial ceremony was planned for Sunday, 28 August 2011, to mark the 48th anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered on his steps at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. Still, it was delayed till October 16 (the 16th anniversary of the Million Man March on the National Mall) due to Hurricane Irene. EZ Bed Bug Exterminator Washington DC
Context
Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American religious leader, activist, and prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement; he was a recognizable figure in the development of civil rights throughout the United States around the world. He advocated for non-violent protest in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi. Even though King was a target of the FBI during his time for suspected Communist sympathies, King is now seen as a hero in the modern history of American liberalism.
In the 1963 March on Washington to fight for Jobs and Freedom, King believed in ending race discrimination during the “I Have a Dream” speech. The speech has been hailed for being one of the best works in American oratory. It was in 1964 that King was the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending racial discrimination and discrimination by civil disobedience, among other non-violent methods.
When he died, he refocused his efforts to end poverty and his involvement in the Vietnam War. King supported protesters in the Memphis sanitation strike and coordinated an occupation in mass in Washington, D.C. – the Poor People’s Campaign – when King was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4th of, 1968.
Location
The address for it is Independence Avenue SW in Washington, D.C. The number “1964” was chosen as an explicit allusion to 1964’s Civil Rights Act, an important milestone within the Civil Rights Movement in which King played a key role. The memorial is situated on a 4-acre (1.6 ha) area within West Potomac Park that borders the Tidal Basin, located southwest of the National Mall. It is situated near its Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. It’s designed to provide the appearance of a “line of leadership” from the Lincoln Memorial, on whose steps King delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech during his March to Washington and then towards the Jefferson Memorial.
Address: 1964 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC
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