Charles Dharapak/AP
The design for the monument by the Roma Design Group, from suggestions by historian Clayborne Carson, the editor and publisher of King’s papers was chosen from more than 900 design submissions from dozens of countries. The entry portal to the memorial is framed by two towering mounds of pink granite, “The Mountain of Despair.” Out of them (when viewed from the entrance to the memorial) a huge slab, “The Stone of Hope,” thrusts into an open plaza on the Tidal Basin. The words “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope,” taken from the “Dream” speech, are inscribed on one side of the stone. The words “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness,” were originally inscribed on the other side. However, in response to protest over what some saw as a sense of self-aggrandizement conveyed by this paraphrase of a statement King once made about himself, it was decided in 2012 to change the inscription to more accurately represent Kin
It s a time to help others.
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By Sharon Cox, Art Voices | 7:00 am, Jan. 13, 2021 ×
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is the third Monday in January. Although it’s a federal holiday and workers get off work, it was meant as a day of service in this country - volunteer service. It’s not a holiday where many people in this part of the world stop and consciously pay homage to the hard work he did. He would not have wanted that. He was a man of service. Like the holiday was meant to be: “A day ON, “ and not a day off.” It is a time to help others by using one s own talents to aid those in need.