America's leading black entertainers are teaming up to raise money for a permanent memorial to Martin Luther King. A new advertising campaign, featuring Oscar-winner Halle Berry and veteran actor Morgan Freeman, challenges Americans to imagine what their country would be like had it not been for the legendary civil rights activist.
Plans for a permanent memorial in Washington were approved in 1998, but funds for it must be raised privately. According to Harry Johnson, president of the Martin Luther King National Memorial Project, $25 million has already been secured, but another $75 million is needed.
Launching the new fundraising drive, Senator Bill Frist said: "The time has come for Dr King to take his rightful place alongside so many other great Americans."
Dr King grew up the son of a Baptist minister in strictly segregated Georgia. Driven by a desire to liberate his people, he formed the civil rights movement that eventually brought about the abolition of segregation.
An impassioned proponent of non-violent protest, his campaign of civil disobedience eventually culminated in the largest protest march in US history, when 250,000 demonstrators marched on Washington. His efforts brought about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and garnered him the Nobel Peace Prize that same year. Tragically, his commitment to bettering the lot of his people also cost him his life, as he was assassinated in Tennessee in 1968.
The monument will be built on a four-acre site in between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials in Washington.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
