Category: MLK Memorial Special Coverage

Aleain Williams, 80, Brooklyn, NY said she remembered meeting Dr. King make a speech at 116th Street in Harlem after the stabbing of a 26-year old civil rights activist. “Dr. King was so impressive. You could tell from the sincerity in his speech that he truly wanted to help us. He spoke like no other […]

Claudyne Jefferson, 64, Nashville, TN said looking at the monument is like envisioning accomplishing a milestone. “This tribute to the works and life of Dr. King says that we are determined to obtain our full equal rights. It is breathtaking to see that Dr. King is memorialized on the National Mall with presidents. Many people […]

Jesse Jackson, former DC Shadow Senator, spoke on the DC Statehood issue. “We need a full scale national movement to get the residents of DC their statehood. We brought in Alaska and Hawaii in the same manner. We must do it for DC. The Democrats pay lip service to DC Statehood while the Republicans just […]

Qwendolyn Swinton, 81, and Dedra Arthur, 59 visited the Mall with a family friend, Sharon Duncan, 57 from Maryland. Swinton of Dallas remembers “as a young person, I worked in the Civil Rights Movement through SNCC. We had an opportunity to hear Dr. King many times in person. It was extraordinary.” They confronted the enemy […]

Ezekiel Bowen, 10, Daniel Bowen, 40, DeQuency Bowen, 39, Cynthia Bowen, 8, and Joshua Bowen, nine months came specifically for the commemoration from West Brookville, N.Y. “Watching the site on the news was not enough for us. We had to bring our family here to see a monument dedicated to the life of this great […]

Malcolm “Y” Brown, 79, Hull, Ma. Calls himself Malcolm Y. He remembered how parts of the movement came together and bonded “just like today with people coming together for different causes, different groups had their own agenda. Dr. King was able to pull us together.” “I was protesting the Vietnam War, others were involved due […]

Tyesha Hill, 25, a student at the University of Houston, traveled from Texas to be a part of the historical Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial dedication. “I’m just happy that they are finally acknowledging Dr. King,” Hill said. The 25-year-old said her views on the significance of the memorial differ from those of older Blacks, […]

Sheila McNeill-Lee stood transfixed before the 30-foot statue of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It was pouring rain. Her thoughts raced back to her childhood. The D.C. resident said she recalled her parents talking about the civil rights movement, but as a child the movement was something distant and hard to understand. She said […]

Julius C. Brown made his way to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial with his wife and 6-year-old grandson Marcel Green to pay respect to a man Brown said paid the ultimate price in a quest to gain equal rights for Black Americans. “King did a lot for us as far as opening up opportunities,” […]

Diane Walker’s tour of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial brought tears to her eyes. The grandmother from Fairfax, Va., spoke of her struggle living through the times when King was at his pinnacle. She lived through the modern civil rights movement. She personally heard King speak some of the words now emblazoned in his […]

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message resonated beyond the United States. For proof, look no further than Tim McCarthy, who brought his family from Ireland for the dedication of the King Memorial. A banker in Ireland, McCarthy said his awareness of King’s impact on the history of the United States made him plan his […]

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired Okie Amadi to become a lawyer. So he booked his travel plans from his home in Honolulu to Washington, D.C., as soon as the dates for the King Memorial dedication were announced. Amadi owed that to King who, he said, played one of the most important roles in […]