Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for November 14, 2006 MLK Jr. NATIONAL MEMORIAL GROUNDBREAKING

The NEA has been asked to be a contributor to the building of the memorial...and has accepted. A related release from NEA President Reg Weaver follows the article below.

From CNN.com...

MLK's message remembered at memorial groundbreaking

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Presidents, civil rights icons, celebrities and ordinary citizens gathered Monday on the National Mall, where construction is getting under way for a monument honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The monument will be built on a four-acre site near the Lincoln Memorial, where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington for civil rights in August 1963.

President Bush said that he was proud to dedicate the memorial to "the lasting memory of a great man."

"Dr. King showed us that a life of conscious and purpose can lift up many souls, and on this ground a monument will rise that preserves his legacy for the ages," Bush said.

"Honoring Dr. King's legacy requires more than building a monument. It requires the ongoing commitment of every American. So we will continue to work for the day when the dignity and humanity of every person is respected and the American promise is denied to no one."

Bush said it was fitting to place the King Memorial between the monuments for Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.

"By its presence in this place, it will unite the men who declared the promise of America and defended the promise of America with the man who redeemed the promise of America," Bush said.

President Clinton signed legislation that kicked off the project in 1996.

"The monument, however beautiful it turns out to be, will be but a physical manifestation of the monument constructed in the minds and hearts of millions of Americans, who are more just, more decent, more successful, more perfect because he lived," Clinton said.

Clinton also stressed the importance of King's nonviolent message in today's society.

"When the real battlefield is the human heart, civil disobedience works better than suicide bombings. Fighting your opponent with respect and reason works better than aspersion and attack."

Members of the King family attended the ceremony along with current and former members of Congress, writer Maya Angelou, talk show host Oprah Winfrey and civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Construction of the $100 million monument is scheduled to be completed in 2008, 40 years after King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

Backers have raised more than $65 million, according to The Associated Press. Most of the funding has come from corporate donors including Tommy Hilfiger and General Motors.

The monument's design was inspired by King's stirring sermons and will feature flowing water that will match the cadence of his speech.

According to the memorial's official Web site, visitors entering the memorial will pass through two stones described as the mountain of despair to reach a third, the stone of hope -- echoing King's 1963 speech.

The line "with this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope" will be carved into one side of the entry.

The other side will be inscribed with the words: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."

Former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, one of King's lieutenants, said King's words were not important because he said them but because he lived them.

The King Memorial will be the first monument to a black American on the National Mall.

Subject: Message from Reg Weaver
Re: MLK National Memorial

Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2006 8:58 PM

To: Board of Directors - Announcements & Information Sharing

As many of you may know, the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation has been working toward building a Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

The Foundation approached the National Education Association (NEA) requesting a one million dollar ($1M) pledge to be realized over an extended period of up to six years. Following deep consideration and reflection on Dr. King's legacy of commitment, not only to public education but also to the dignity, equality and human and civil rights of all people, I approved this sum contingent upon a conversation with and the approval of the NEA Executive Committee. The Executive Committee has since approved this pledge. Although there was a very short timeframe associated with the request and the approval, I did make a point of acknowledging to the Executive Committee that the process associated with this approval was not optimal.

NEA shares Dr. King's vision as stated in our core values-equal opportunity, a just society, democracy, professionalism and collective action-and through this commitment we continue to demonstrate the historic legacy of ATA/NEA.

The U.S. Congress has passed joint resolutions in support of the MLK Memorial Project and the U.S. Senate has voted to provide over $10 million. Many other corporations and organizations have contributed, and our pledge has brought the total raised by the Foundation to $69.4 million toward the project's total projected cost of $100 million. NEA and its state affiliates will be recognized beginning tomorrow, November 13th, as a major contributor.

In addition to the immediate recognitions at tomorrow's groundbreaking and gala, the significant recognition will come with our name engraved at the memorial site, and becoming the only member of their Executive Committee whose primary focus and professional affiliation is directly related to education. We will also be profiled in the documentary book “The Making of a Monument.” Additional recognition will be on the stationary, newsletter, magazine, annual report, newspaper, radio and television, as well as having our logo and link included on the MLK Build the Dream website.

We are exploring various ways to accommodate this commitment through the work of our strategic goals one and two, as well as through contributions, etc. I also look forward to working with our NEA Board and state affiliates in identifying various other ways in which we can realize this commitment and further honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

For more information on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall Project, please go to www.buildthedream.org.