Last weekend we went to the mall to see the newest memorial--MLK. It was tricky to get good photos because so many people were there. But we managed to take a few with just us. Despite some complaints over the style being almost Socialist Realism (whoever said that hasn't ever seen real Socialist Realist statues) and an out-of-context quote that appears less than eloquent (whoever complained about that had a point, but failed to note how profound and perfect the other 20+ quotes were), we loved the memorial. It might be my favorite. Andrew thinks it easily ranks up with the FDR and Einstein Memorials.
Perhaps we were affected as much by the other people visiting the Memorial as the work itself. People were emotional--tearing up or jubillant or in some other way visibly moved. Or perhaps it had such an impact on us because King's life and causes are more recent than, say, those of Jefferson or Lincoln. Or perhaps it's just a really beautiful memorial, despite any negative press we'd read before visiting it. Not that I blame people for being picky over a memorial to an important figure on our National Mall--clearly we want the art and the content to be fitting. But I think this was a success.
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