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Thousands gathered Oct. 16 in West Potomac Park in Washington D.C. for the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. Despite its delay due to hurricane Irene in August, President Barack Obama led the dedication ceremony along with notable civil rights leaders from across the country.The 30-foot granite monument is located on the National Mall, adjacent to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and sits on a line directly between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. The monument's official address is 1964 Independence Ave, a reference to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in which Dr. King played a major role.
It took several years for completion, starting in 1996 when Congress allowed King's former fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, to establish the memorial. Nearly $120 million were raised from the "Band Together to Build a Dream" donations used to create the site.
"The tribute is long overdue," said Laura Washington, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. "The monument is a sculpture. I hope that people will capture the spirit of what King represented. The spirit of equality."
Nearly 50 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream Speech" in Washington in an effort to push for racial equality and to rally against discrimination against African Amerians.
"King was the face of the civil rights movement," said Dr. Howard Lindsey, assistant professor of History at DePaul. "You can't talk about civil rights without talking about Martin Luther King."
Dr. Lindsey teaches African American history courses at DePaul including the History of the Civil Rights Movement and of the Black Power Movement.
"I do wish, though, that the monument somehow gave some recognition to the thousands who made up the movement," said Dr. Kohli, assistant professor of African Black Diaspora Studies at DePaul University. Dr. Kohli recently discussed some of Dr. King's speeches with his African American and African Diaspora and Culture class.
When asked about the dedication of the memorial, Kohli said, "I thought it was about time."
It took 15 years for Dr. King's monument to arrive to Washington, but in the words of President Obama at the ceremony, "This is a day that would not be denied."
"President Obama did a great job at catering Martin Luther King's message to the issues we are facing today," said Josh Perez, a junior in Political Science and Communication at DePaul. Perez also has campaigned for President Obama for the upcoming 2012 election as a community organizer in the first ward of Chicago.
In 1963, King arrived in Washington, D.C. to speak before thousands at the Lincoln memorial, but today he sits near it again. Alongside his memorial are the embedded words: "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."
2011 marks yet another milestone in Dr. King's accomplishments and is a testament of the continuing power of his legacy in shaping the national psyche of the United States.
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