Embrace memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King unveiled on Boston Common
BOSTON - A new sculpture honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King and their legacy in Boston was unveiled Friday afternoon.
The 22-foot tall Embrace Memorial was formally unveiled on Boston Common, near the Parkman Bandstand.
This is the first new monument on the Common in more than 30 years.
The Embrace memorializes the hug Dr. King shared with his wife Coretta after he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
King met Coretta Scott in Boston in the 1950s and he earned his Ph.D. in theology at Boston University. He preached in Boston, and in 1965, led a civil rights march from Roxbury to the Common, where The Embrace now stands.
The family of Dr. King stood in amazement. "It is a great honor to be a part of this unveiling ceremony for the memorial which truly signifies the bond of love shared by my parents," Dr. Martin Luther King III said.
The ceremony was filled with song, prayer and powerful speeches.
"I am dazzled by this monument. It's a remarkable statement of the mutual love and solidarity of two people who share mutual determination to overcome racism and build better future together and for generations," Andrea King said.
King's granddaughter Yolanda King spoke from her heart and clearly has the gift of her grandfather and grandmother. "I just really see that there needs to be a lot of change in this world. And I think it is all of our responsibility to really do something and I feel called to do this work," Yolanda said.
The non-profit Embrace Boston raised $8 million to create the sculpture and an additional $2.5 million to preserve it.
"Boston has taken a long journey to get to this day," Paul English, co-chair of Embrace Boston, said at the ceremony. "This has to be a catalyst for change and that's what the Boston community built in Embrace."
Former WBZ-TV anchor Rev. Liz Walker is a co-founder and co-chair of Embrace Boston.
"People are excited about this. And you know, and in these days when we're all fighting and screaming at each other, and nobody's talking to each other and we can only think of things that pull us apart, this is a unifier. So it gives me great hope," she told WBZ.
"This will kind of stir things up, to look at this and understand, that's the feeling you get," she said. "You don't just look at this and think 'Oh that's nice.' You look at it, at least I look at it, and it brings up memories and it brings up possibilities."
"The embrace is also in the shape of a heart, so our logo is the aerial view. The side view, it's a heart," Imari Paris Jeffries, Embrace Boston's executive director, told WBZ. "So we want one of the messages that stay in people's minds is that this is one of the few memorials in this country that is rooted on the story of a Black family, Black love."
There will be more events this holiday weekend honoring Dr. King in Boston. Project 351, with people representing the state's 351 towns, will have its' annual Launch and Service Day at Faneuil Hall at 9:30 a.m. Saturday
The annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. College, Career and Health Fair will also be held Saturday at the Melnea Cass Rec Center in Roxbury at 10 a.m.
