MLK Jr. Memorial in Washington a powerful tribute to an icon

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the few people who I wish I could have heard speak in person.

The recordings are so powerful. His delivery, the words themselves, the overall message—inspirational, moving, and so full of conviction. I can only imagine what being in his presence was like. What it would have been like to feel the energy of the crowd.

Gunned down too young—he was only 39. He’d be 96 today. What would he have done if he had lived? What would he have to say about the current state of affairs?

He was a man for his time. If only we had someone like him today.

King was larger than life in many ways.

That’s why it’s so appropriate the memorial for him in Washington, D.C., that opened in 2011 is so large, imposing, and definitely impressive. King deserves nothing less.

I had the pleasure of seeing the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial earlier this month with my mom, and friends Stephanie and Bruce.

“Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope” is inscribed on the side of his sculpture. The words come from his August 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech that was delivered not that far away at the Lincoln Memorial.

The memorial builds on that inscription with the sculpture seeming to be a piece of stone cut from the middle of a larger stone—from a mountain of despair? Behind the sculpture are two “rocks” representing from where the piece for the sculpture originated.

The symbolism is powerful. It’s as though King is the bridge, that he is the stone of hope.

Included in the memorial are several of King’s quotes, like:

• “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
• “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
• “If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.”
• “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

King’s words still resonate today. If only more people would embrace them and his ideals.