Thousands gather for Martin Luther King ceremony
Thousands of people have gathered in Washington to give the new Martin Luther King Memorial a proper dedication on the National Mall after its opening in August.
Aretha Franklin, poet Nikki Giovanni and President Barack Obama will be among those honouring the legacy of the United States’ foremost civil rights leader during a ceremony scheduled to run more than four hours.
Cherry Hawkins travelled from Houston with her cousins and arrived at 6 am to be part of the dedication.
“I wanted to do this for my kids and grandkids,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins, her cousin DeAndrea Cooper and Cooper’s daughter Brittani Jones, 23, visited the King Memorial on Saturday after joining a march with the Rev. Al Sharpton, a prominent civil rights leader, to urge Congress to pass a jobs bill.
“You see his face in the memorial, and it’s kind of an emotional moment,” Cooper said. “It’s beautiful. They did a wonderful job.”
A stage for speakers and thousands of folding chairs were set up on a field near the memorial along with large TV screens.
Some attendees started lining up at 5 am and even earlier.
Organisers anticipate as many as 50,000 people will attend. By 9 am thousands of seats were filled, and attendees were greeted with bright sunlight.
The August ceremony had been expected to draw 250,000.
Even with the smaller crowd, King Memorial foundation president Harry Johnson called Sunday “a day of fulfilment”.
About 1.5 million people are estimated to have visited the 10-metre-tall statue of King and the granite walls where 14 of his quotations are carved in stone. The memorial is the first on the National Mall honouring a black leader.
The sculpture of King with his arms crossed appears to emerge from a stone extracted from a mountain. It was carved by Chinese artist Lei Yixin. The design was inspired by a line from the famous I Have a Dream speech in 1963: “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
King’s “Dream” speech during the March on Washington galvanised the civil rights movement.
King’s older sister, Christine King Farris, said she witnessed a baby become “a great hero to humanity.” She said the memorial will ensure her brother’s legacy will provide a source of inspiration worldwide for generations.
King’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, said her family is proud to witness the memorial’s dedication. She said it was a long time coming and had been a priority for her mother, Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006.
The nation’s first black president, who was just 6 years old when King was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, will speak about the man he has said “gave his life serving others”.
