The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial stands in West Potomac Park beside the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., aligned with the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials and linked symbolically to King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. First proposed after King’s assassination by Alpha Phi Alpha, the project was authorized by Congress in 1996 and opened in 2011 after years of planning and fundraising. Its design centers on the Stone of Hope, a granite figure of King reached through the Mountain of Despair, with an inscription wall of fourteen quotations emphasizing justice, democracy, hope, and love. It is a major national place of reflection on the civil rights movement and King’s nonviolent legacy.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Arlington, Virginia · USA