A special half -hour moving over Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King and the monument that is being inaugurated in Boston to honor his love and seek social justice.
“The Embace”, a historic monument in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King, is about to open in Boston Common on Friday, January 13.
It has taken a long time to arrive, he took years of work headed by the Embrace Boston group, a group dedicated to cultivating the necessary conditions for racial and economic justice in Boston.
Tune in: Embace: The Kings, on Saturday, January 14 at 6 p. m. In Telemundo Boston. It is a half -hour special about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King in Boston, as well as the inauguration of the “The Embrace” monument (the hug) that honors King’s love and promises to change the conversation about social justice in Boston, the nation, and the world.
The monument is much more than a real memorial and is designed on purpose to be the high point to change the conversation about social justice in Boston and beyond.
The authorities involved in the project say that ‘The Embace’ has the potential to become the statue of Boston’s freedom, a lighthouse of bronze hope.
Why Boston?
When you think about the story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, you probably think of Atlanta or Washington, D.C.
But the famous couple who is the face of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960 New England music.
They came from very different environments.
“Martin Luther King came from an African -American elite class that was very often associated with the clergy,” said filmmaker Roberto Mighty, “but Coretta literally came from an Alabama cotton harvest region.”
Reverend Jeffrey Brown, pastor of the twelfth Baptist Church and co -president of Embace Boston, said Coretta did not look like anyone that Mlk would have known.
“You had this amazingly beautiful woman who had this acute intellectual mind and this commitment to social progress not only of African Americans but of all people,” he says.
You can also see ‘The Embace: The Kings’ in Peacock, Roku and Globe.com
“History has shown us the important role he played, not only supporting Dr. King, but also playing an active role to help shape his work,” adds Tanisha Sullivan, president of the Boston branch of the NAACP.
The March
They became politicians here in Boston.
Dr. King headed a famous march for the freedom of more than 20,000 people from Roxbury to Boston Common in April 1965.
He spoke at Parkman Bandstand on the common and then spoke at State House.
They focused on everything, from jobs to housing equity, important issues in the city today.
The Embace (the hug)
Because the Kings went to school here, they fell in love here and concentrated on Boston activism, there has been an impulse for a long time to honor the Kings in some way.
“Boston is a city of history. And, often, in our city, we consider historical sites and buildings as part of our culture. And we are a city that has not allowed different types of culture to prosper in the way it should, Considering the diversity of our city, “said Imari Paris Jeffries, Executive Director of Embace Boston.
And part of that story is, without a doubt, The Kings. “His romance, their lives as students, their lives as community members in Roxbury, have not been told in a way that I think most Bostonians know or people who come to visit our city,” Jeffries said.
And in 2017, a small group that included Paul English, Reverend Liz Walker and Reverend Jeffrey Brown, had the idea of building a monument in honor of Dr. King.
After a long process, the project was approved for a monument in Boston Common, the oldest continuous park in the US.
Proposals were sent and the winning design was from the artist Hank Willis Thomas with The Mass Design Group.
Willis Thomas investigated a lot and saw a photo not only of Dr. King but of the King hugged after Dr. King won the Nobel Prize.
“And first I saw the joy on his face because we don’t know him for being a cheerful person, but then I saw how strong he was hugging his wife, but also how firmly she sustained him. And I thought it was a really powerful metaphor of the form of the form In that she supported him during her life, but also the way she brought her legacy on her shoulders with such dignity and grace, that this idea of her weight on her shoulders was really powerful, “Willis said Tomás.
600 bronze pieces were needed to make the incredible work of art of the couple’s hug, two pairs of intertwined shoulders.
“We work with the manufacturers in Walla Walla, Washington. They are the best in what they do when assembling world class art,” said Jonathan Evans, RA, director of Mass Design Group.
Then, the bronze was transported in trucks throughout the country to its permanent home in Boston.
Also with the monument there is a granite square with the names of dozens of other civil rights leaders of Boston.
Visitors can download an application and take an audio tour to listen to Dr. King and Coretta’s time stories in Boston, as well as other pioneers in the city.
What Does Everything Mean
The groups involved in the monument know that this is just the beginning. The next is The Embace Center, which will include a center for social justice, which will be available later in 2023.
The city of Boston has always played a more important role than life in the direction of the history of our country, so we have visitors from all over the country and from all over the world, “said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
He added: “What attracts people to our city will begin to reflect a little more thoroughly who are included in that history of leadership, freedom and thrust for the next generation.”
“I think there is an opportunity for people to see themselves not only directly through the diversity of people who are also honored in the square, but also see themselves as part of a memorial dedicated to love and They see themselves through the eyes of other people who could not look like them. Because we are all Bostonians, we are all Americans, we are all citizens of this world. And that is the promise of “The Embace,” Jeffries said.
The article is originally published on telemundonuevainglaterra.com
