Controversial Martin Luther King Memorial to be Unveiled in Washington, D.C.

[ChrisGeorge]

Not impressed....there are some much better statues of MLK...............

http://www.ethicsoup.com/americas-ma...hoto-tour.html

Excellent, thanks, Lizzie. Any of those memorials would be better. By the way, it's a truism that some statues are used in multiple places. I know of the same Roger Brooke Taney statue that can be seen in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Annapolis. He's the controversial Supreme Court justice who gave the Dred Scott ruling that led to the Civil War. And one of "Braveheart" William Wallace the Scottish hero can be seen both in Scotland (Stirling I believe) and in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore.

Chris

---------- Post added at 04:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:47 PM ----------

But even the Chinese seem to have a better review criteria -

According to the regulation, mass-produced Mao statues must pass a strict examination by at least five experts to ensure the expression, hairstyle, facial- and body-features, costume and posture reflect Mao’s real appearance. What’s more, the statue cannot be made out of plastic. If there are Mao statues failed to meet the new technical criteria, they may be confiscated and destroyed by relevant authorities.

Hi AZ

Thanks for this. I don't know whether you heard the controversy that the image of the Statue of Liberty on the recently produced U.S. postage stamp is based on the replica of the statue in Las Vegas rather than the original. To me that's a storm in a teacup since it's still the likeness of the original statue on Liberty Island.

Chirs

[Lizzie1]

I wasn't aware of the Statue of Martin Luther King at Westminster Abbey...

[az_gila]

Excellent, thanks, Lizzie. Any of those memorials would be better. By the way, it's a truism that some statues are used in multiple places. I know of the same Roger Brooke Taney statue that can be seen in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Annapolis. He's the controversial Supreme Court justice who gave the Dred Scott ruling that led to the Civil War. And one of "Braveheart" William Wallace the Scottish hero can be seen both in Scotland (Stirling I believe) and in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore.

Chris

...

And don't forget that Eros in Sefton Park has a "brother" in Picadilly Circus.

Why not re-use the statue mould? Early 30's recycling at it's finest...

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/c...sculpture.aspx

[Marty1]

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s family has charged the foundation building a monument to the civil-rights leader on the National Mall about $800,000 to use his words and image -- and at least one scholar thinks that Dr. King would find such an arrangement offensive.
The memorial is being paid for almost entirely through a fund-raising campaign led by the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation.

Getting away from the subject a tad, how can you fund raise on one hand, then charge with the other. I would imagine MLK would have been livid, it only goes to show that all he said and meant was lost on his own family ! Having said that, whatever his family do, does not take away from his achievements or his standing in the world !

[az_gila]

Getting away from the subject a tad, how can you fund raise on one hand, then charge with the other. I would imagine MLK would have been livid, it only goes to show that all he said and meant was lost on his own family ! Having said that, whatever his family do, does not take away from his achievements or his standing in the world !

I agree on the achievements - but I think the family foundation (could be called cashing in?) is a different entity from the foundation that colected money and paid for the memorial.

None of the family are directors or leaders of the Memorial Organization -

http://www.mlkmemorial.org/site/c.hk..._Directors.htm

http://www.mlkmemorial.org/site/c.hk...Leadership.htm

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi all

As some of you may know, the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C. was due to be officially opened to the public on Sunday but the event was postponed because of Hurricane Irene bearing down on the capital and the mid-Atlantic region.

Poet Maya Angelou was an advisor to the project and she has a problem with wording carved on the side of mountain side from which the giant figure of King emerges. This summarizes a statement made by King that some might think him a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness but takes his words out of context so that the humility in which King made the statement is discarded to make it more blandly read, "I was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness" which makes him seem arrogant. Angelou is quoted in today's Washington Post as saying, "The quote makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an arrogant twit" and that "It makes him seem an egoist" when he was anything but that. See story here.

All the best

Chris

[az_gila]

Hi all

As some of you may know, the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C. was due to be officially opened to the public on Sunday but the event was postponed because of Hurricane Irene bearing down on the capital and the mid-Atlantic region.

Poet Maya Angelou was an advisor to the project and she has a problem with wording carved on the side of mountain side from which the giant figure of King emerges. This summarizes a statement made by King that some might think him a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness but takes his words out of context so that the humility in which King made the statement is discarded to make it more blandly read, "I was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness" which makes him seem arrogant. Angelou is quoted in today's Washington Post as saying, "The quote makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an arrogant twit" and that "It makes him seem an egoist" when he was anything but that. See story here.

All the best

Chris

Ahh... nothing like taking words out of context... but it's done all of the time... usually by the press....

However, Ms. Angelou should really have attended the meetings if she wanted her input to be known before the carving started -

"Angelou was one of the memorial’s Council of Historians tasked with selecting the inscriptions for the memorial. But she did not attend meetings about the inscriptions, Jackson said."

And - talking about the press - this was the Washington Post headline

Maya Angelou says King memorial inscription makes him look ‘arrogant’

I read that as saying that she didn't like the look of the statue, but in fact she said "it makes him sound arrogant" - no reference in the article as to whether she liked the actual statue.

The press fails again....

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi AZ

I expect everyone is going to have a different reaction to the memorial. My friend Dave Eberhardt, a Baltimore poet who served a prison sentence for pouring blood on draft cards in the Sixties, thinks it insufficiently honors other activists and not just King. Here is a letter he sent to various people:

"as a veteran of the civil rights movement- CORE in Baltimore- my expectations of the King statue memorial week have been realized. It has been full of 'missing the point' re Dr King- for example were persons who are continuing his legacy be honored? such as the DC Catholic Worker, Jonah House in Baltimore war protestors, or Code Pink that speaks truth to power? will they? those who disrupt the war makers? like Obama?

"The statue is great- other wise proceedings have largely been a sham- glad to see at least Sharpton had a march- next maybe he'd go to jail- we're talkin militant non-violent civil disobediance- activism- not speeches and expos- that is the way to honor Dr. King.

"Yeh i know you're 'talking' but keep on a walking- 'Aint gonna let nobuddy turn me around', etc. dave eberhardt."

[az_gila]

Unfortuneately your friends use of Sharpton as an example shows how downhill the movement has gone since MLK....