Posts Tagged ‘dedication’
Martin Luther King Jr memorial dedicated this coming weekend
Daylife/Getty Images used by permission
The morning sun that came up over Washington’s Tidal Basin on Monday illuminated a new memorial opening to the public for the first time: a plaza and statue honoring the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to dedicate the site on Sunday, but the media and visitors were allowed to take part in a “soft” preview as construction crews complete their final touches.
“I feel like I’m standing on holy ground,” said Donnie Simons, nearly overcome with emotion at the sight of the granite portrayal of King.
The D.C. resident told CNN, “What Dr. King means to me and this world, and the things that he stood for, for us to give him this kind of commemoration, for my kids and my grandkids, they’re going to be able to stand here and see this as well.”
Another visitor, who drove up from Atlanta for the preview, told CNN the memorial is “breathtaking,” in how the 30-foot tall sculpture faces the Tidal Basin, overlooking the water in front of the Jefferson Memorial.
“It’s an emotional response,” said Erica Nicole Griffin, “but it’s also a sense of ‘wow, this is finally happening.’”
The early visitors represented a variety of ethnic backgrounds. “I would have expected that,” said Wayne Cunningham of California, on a family vacation to the nation’s capital, “because I think he’s a symbol of not just the blacks but all cultures and all races.”
Groundbreaking took place in November 2006, and the dedication on Sunday is timed with the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington, where King delivered his historic speech, “I Have a Dream.”
I was there for the original speech. Working security for some of the speakers I was off to the side of things – keeping an eye out for racist idiots. But, I could hear every word as clearly as anyone out front. A few years later I got to open for Dr. King a couple of times in Chicago – the man never let a crowd off with an “easy” speech.
It was a tough day of travel by train – in a group mostly organized by Black ministers from my home town. And all worth it.
The best chuckles were in the organizing: leafletting the central Catholic church in my neighborhood, inviting folks to come along and participate, the priest came out on the steps and ordered parishioners leaving mass not to read or accept that “commie propaganda”. Only topped by the chief of police exiting the same mass and presuming I was handing out leaflets because I knew he was there. Which I didn’t. But, I especially would have had I known. 
CNN looks to be carrying the dedication, Sunday. Please watch and remember an important part of American history.
Hoover Dam bypass [and beautiful] bridge dedicated
A new bridge soaring across the Colorado River uniting Arizona and Nevada was formally dedicated Thursday, eliminating a 75-mile detour around Hoover Dam.
Named for heroes from different wars, the bridge will be the key part of a faster route between Phoenix and Las Vegas. It is the Western Hemisphere’s longest single-span concrete arch bridge and one of the highest in the world, officials said.
The 1,900-foot bridge, which is 890 feet above the river, is part of a $240-million four-lane bypass that will shift traffic away from the two-lane U.S. 93 across Hoover Dam. It is about 1,500 feet south of the dam and crosses over Black Canyon.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, authorities banned commercial trucks from crossing Hoover Dam, forcing a 75-mile detour. The bypass is designed to provide a shorter commercial route and unclog the delays caused by security checkpoints at the dam…
The bridge is named for former Nevada Gov. Mike O’Callaghan, who was decorated in the Korean War, and Pat Tillman, the former football player who left the Arizona Cardinals to become an Army Ranger after the Sept. 11 attacks. The Army initially said Tillman had been killed by enemy fire in Afghanistan, but under pressure acknowledged that he had been killed by friendly fire.
“This bridge above us — this monument to America’s can-do spirit — reminds us that it’s not too late for our generation to pass on a more perfect union to our kids and grandkids,” DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said. “We can still dream big. We can roll up our sleeves and make this nation’s infrastructure the envy of the world once again.”
Ray LaHood is the kind of all-American cheerleader who used to populate the Republican Party in large numbers. It’s a shame that folks like him are out of favor with the folks in charge of an ever-narrowing charge to the Right.
It definitely is a pretty bridge. Though – as noted elsewhere, this weekend – I’d still rather see the bulk of those boxes trundling around the Western landscape on rails. Cheaper, cleaner, much more sustainable logistics.
BTW – keep an eye on the Discovery group of channels. They own a couple of documentaries on the construction of this beastie.
Good thing Mississauga never had term limits!
Not entirely unique; but, a great example of why term limits are undemocratic. Term limits in Mississauga would have deprived the voters of an opportunity to continue the service of that rarest of politicians – one dedicated to improving community life.
True, the typical political hack stays in business catering to bigotry or society’s obsession with the ethics of beancounters. Whether it’s a Strom Thurmond kept in office as a spokesman for Southern Racism or a John McCain who yammers every year about how he’s saving taxpayers money by keeping some town – outside of Arizona – from educating too many kids.
But, there is a great history in North American politics of people like Hazel McCallion – Claude Pepper from Florida or the Udall family in the American Southwest – dedicated to public service and keeping the needs of us ordinary citizens at the top of the list.
More power to you, Hazel. Rock on!
Thanks, Cinaedh
US Fortress/Embassy opens in Baghdad
Universally-accepted decoration for U.S. embassies
Daylife/AFP/Getty Images
The new US embassy in Baghdad has been opened, with a dedication ceremony attended by the Iraqi president. The compound is one of the biggest and most expensive embassies the US has ever built, and was opened amid heavy security in the Iraqi capital…
The new complex, which will house a total of 4,000 staff, has been built with security very much in mind. Oh. Are we to infer the folks who live nearby, in the nation, perhaps the entire region – don’t care to lay down their lives for the United States?
The opening ceremony was led by Ambassador Ryan Crocker and attended by US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
Mr Talabani thanked the US for helping to create a democratic Iraq “which will serve as a model for other peoples of the eastern world”.
There is little I might offer in comment about this spew. The United States built a command and control center to manage imperial armies throughout the Middle East. The whole nightmare was scripted by fools like Dick Cheney and Jeb Bush with his brother as front-man and flunky.
Their schedule required the handover to an Iraqi civilian government and celebration of this Maginot Zone of Democracy. The fact this has been a costly failure forced the celebration to happen with a certainty – ahead of Obama’s inauguration.
