Photo credit: David Goldman/ Associated Press
Today, on the 54th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington, about 800 people watched a new statue of Dr. King rise at the Georgia State Capitol in his honor. Atlanta, Georgia was King’s hometown.
During the March on Washington, over 200,000 Black and white people met in Washington, D.C. to attend the March, one of the nation’s largest political rallies for human rights and the first demonstration to have a considerable amount of media coverage. The demands of the March included an increase in minimum wages, the establishment of major public-works programs to provide jobs, and the elimination of racial segregation in public schools and racial discrimination in private and public hiring.
Photo credit: David Goldman/ Associated Press
Dr. King’s youngest daughter, Bernice King attended the ceremony along with her aunt, Christine, the oldest surviving blood relative of Dr. King Jr., and her father’s younger brother’s wife, Naomi, who brought her granddaughter.
“Today, we as the sons and daughters of former slaves and former slave owners are here to witness the unveiling of that statue,” Bernice King said. “It is a glorious and grand day in the state of Georgia and in the United States of America and all over the world.”
The 8-foot-bronze statue shows Dr. King in mid-stride with an overcoat draped over his left arm and a batch of papers in his hand.
“This statue being unveiled today, I believe, also provides a sense of hope to a nation that is in turmoil once again, as many people around this nation are removing and taking down Confederate monuments,” Bernice King added.
Martin Dawe is the artist behind the sculpture.