The dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in August may draw as many as 400,000 people — more than the 1963 March on Washington, organizers say.
Former secretary of State Colin Powell, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin are among the people expected to participate in five days of concerts, dinners, seminars and prayer services celebrating King’s legacy, says Harry Johnson, CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation..
The $120 million memorial, the only one on the Mall that does not commemorate a president or a war, will be dedicated Aug. 28, the anniversary of the march and King’s I Have a Dream speech, which drew an estimated 200,000 people.
Johnson says the National Park Service is planning for 400,000 people. Sgt. David Schlosser, spokesman for the U.S. Park Police, would not confirm that figure, saying his office does not give out crowd projections.
The memorial, designed around the themes of justice, democracy and hope, is on 4 acres between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. It features a sculpture of King and excerpts from his sermons and speeches.
“This is the first time on the Mall that there will be a memorial dedicated to a man of peace, a person of non-violence, and to someone who was never elected to political office,” says Rep. John Lewis, a Democrat representing Atlanta. Lewis was a King protégé and one of the organizers of the March on Washington. “For the memorial to be literally between Jefferson and Lincoln, that says something.”
Organizers are in the final stretch of a 15-year fundraising effort, started by Alpha Phi Alpha, King’s fraternity. They have about $8 million left to raise. “I have to believe that as giving as the American people are, that they’re going to close the gap on this,” Johnson says.
The dedication will cap a five-day celebration. Actor Jamie Foxx and singers BeBe Winans and Lionel Richie have promised to appear, Johnson says. President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former president Bill Clinton have been invited but have not said if they will attend.
Powell’s office says he hopes to come, though his schedule is not firm for August.
“Dr. King held up a mirror to America and said, ‘Look at who and what we are. Is this the America we want? Is this the America our Founding Fathers dreamed of, even if they could not realize it in their time? Is this the America that is supposed to be the model for the rest of the world?'” Powell says in a statement from his office. “The answer had to be, ‘No!'”
Free events include the dedication and two concerts. Tickets for other events range from $85 for a “civil rights pioneers luncheon” to $250 for a gala at the National Building Museum. Other events, including a service at Washington National Cathedral, are by invitation only
Evelyn Lowery and her husband, Joseph Lowery, will be at the dedication. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King, and she founded a sister group, SCLC/Women’s Organizational Movement for Equality Now.
“It’s a big project, and with the economy what it’s been, it’s understandable it has taken longer than expected,” Evelyn Lowery says.
“But it’s worth the wait.”
article courtesy of TheBelleReport.com
