Poet and author Maya Angelou is irked by an inscription on the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial that she believes "minimizes the man." (via Washington Post)
A quotation from one of King's speeches were paraphrased in order to fit on the side of the newly unveiled memorial dedicated to his legacy. The inscription, which is carved on the north side of the statue, reads: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.”
The excerpt was taken from a sermon delivered by King at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1968, the same year he was assassinated. King, while referencing what his own eulogy might sound like, said to the congregation: “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”
6 comments:
MLK would never have wanted such an arrogant looking statue from what I have read about him.
Agreed 5:39 and Ms. Angelou should have showed for the meetings until waiting to complain until after the memorial was complete.
This statue was done by a CHINESE artist--the same artist who does lots of communist leader statues. How ridiculous was it to hire a COMMUNIST CHINESE artist to create the MLK statue. So Maya can complain to the CHINESE artist who created this "masterpiece" or maybe criticise the King family who demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars for the "right" to honor MLK.
Big freakin deal. He was a leader for those people who wanted civil rights.
Most of the ones whose mouths speak of King have no idea what he was about.
They just use his legacy to further their own agenda.
You got your rights. So enjoy them and let him rest in peace.
You think he would be proud of his race today? Fat chance.
I don't recall him urging you to join gangs, attack whitey, be lazy, whine about any and all perceived wrongs.
I think he would tell you what Bill Cosby tried to educate you with.
But as with Bill, Kings words would fall on deaf ears.
MLK, the man, was not that great of a man. The fiction written about the legend that was created about him, IS. Having a holiday, a tribute on the Mall and all the annual hype is too much for someone who really didn't do that much. He was a martar made out to be a hero.
I've gotta agree 12:37 that MLK wouldn't be proud of the black race as a whole as many of us are constantly spitting on the the work those that came before us put in. I agreed with Bill Cosby as he was spot on... Seems like everyone wants to wait for the next MLK rather than start making the necessary changes themselves
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