Previous | Next :: Martin Luther King Day : Civil Rights memorial : Montgomery Alabama | January 16, 2010, 12:09 am

Today is Martin Luther King Day in the United States. This evening, I am now back in Atlanta Georgia the place of his birth........ having spent the day working in Tennessee the State of his assassination.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States, and he has become a human rights icon: King is recognized as a martyr by two Christian churches.[1] A Baptist minister,[2] King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986. from wikipedia

The Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery Alabama honors the achievements and memory of those who lost their lives during the Civil Rights Movement, a period framed by the momentous Brown v. Board decision in 1954 and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968. The concept of Maya Lin's design is based on the soothing and healing effect of water.

It was inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr.'s quotation "..., from the "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered at the National Mall, Washington D.C. August 28, 1963......... I remember a day...... two years ago now..... when I watched the water flowing over the words carved in stone and made this photograph........ the words of Martin Luther King Jr were bathed in golden light with just a hint of rainbows in the spray as the sun set.

"... we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. ..."

Cheers Jez XX

www.jezblog.com