26 August 2007

More Memorial Controversy: MLK

A new controversy is emerging regarding the soon to be built Martin Luther King Jr memorial on the Mall in Washington DC. Some members of the African-American community are now questioning the selection of a Chinese artist, Lei Yixin, to sculpt the centerpiece sculpture of MLK. The Washington Post makes it clear that the complaints aren't that the proposal is for something that won't be grand enough:
The statue Lei is creating -- which at 28 feet will be a full nine feet taller than the statue in the Jefferson Memorial -- will be the centerpiece of the tribute to King. The memorial will span four acres near the Tidal Basin between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials, facing Jefferson. Visitors will first walk through a grove of spruce and magnolia trees by a waterfall and read a selection of the civil rights leader's famous words carved on walls. At the end of their walk, they will see King's likeness emerging from a chunk of granite.

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