Coletta Strickland cashed in her airline miles and boarded a plane a few days ago, bound for Washington, D.C.
Her goal: to see firsthand on Sunday the dedication of the monument erected to honor Martin Luther King Jr.Shortly after the Arlington woman's plane landed, she experienced her first earthquake. Now the threat of Hurricane Irene's arrival along the East Coast has prompted officials to postpone the dedication ceremony for the memorial."I'm devastated," said Strickland, who is in Washington with her husband, Blake Moorman, a national sales manager at the Fort Worth Convention Center. "We stopped by the area the other night, but I didn't get out of the car to see [the monument] because I wanted to wait for the ceremony."Everybody is kind of in a tailspin because so much was going on around this event," she said. "I guess Blake and I will go together to see the monument" today.Many Tarrant County residents were among the hundreds of thousands who planned to attend Sunday's dedication of the MLK monument, the first in the mall to honor an African-American and the first there to memorialize someone who did not serve as president.It had been scheduled to fall on the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington and King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which was delivered at the nearby Lincoln Memorial.Theme of hopeA work in progress for more than a quarter-century, the King memorial in the National Mall joins those honoring Franklin Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. It was given federal approval in 1996, when Congress formally authorized the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to move forward with establishing the tribute.Near the tidal basin, surrounded by cherry and American elm trees, a 30-foot statue of King overlooks the area.The theme of hope is carved into stone."Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope," reads part of King's 1963 speech that is cut into the monument.The memorial features the Mountain of Despair and the Stone of Hope, as well as an inscription wall featuring some of King's most memorable quotes."This is very emotional," said Moorman, who attended a private dedication Friday night with the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. "I wouldn't be able to stand [in the National Mall] if it wasn't for that man."Roderick Miles didn't grow up in the 1960s and didn't witness the events of King's life. But he, too, has heard the stories and wants to honor King. That's why he had planned to be at Sunday's ceremony."I'm a member of the same fraternal organization, and I'm a beneficiary of the work that he did," said Miles, 39, the African-American partnership manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters in Fort Worth. "I [wanted] to be there with other people who have been directly impacted by the life and legacy that he has given us."'Crowning moment'Moorman, treasurer of the Fort Worth Alpha Phi Alpha alumni chapter and director of conventions for the Texas Council of Alpha Chapters, said local fundraisers sent thousands of dollars to help build the memorial."It is a crowning moment for America that we can finally go to the mall and know we have someone there ... who was for equality and peace for everyone," he said.Charmion Johnson-Polk was to attend the ceremony but canceled her trip because she wasn't scheduled to fly out until tonight."It's a letdown to me and I am disappointed," said Johnson-Polk, founder of the Original King Kids of America, a youth group that for years sang hymns and spirituals and performed King's famous speeches. "But you can't argue with Mother Nature."I was just wondering, Was he trying to tell us something about why this is happening?"Johnson-Polk said she will reschedule her trip once she learns the new date for the dedication ceremony.And now she has even more time to anticipate the event."I don't intend for anything to stop me," she said. "I've got to go and represent the children who are not able to be there."For 25 years, this is the man I've taught them about," she said. "This man needs to be in that great mall. He deserves that."Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
