THE RIPPLE EFFECTS MARTIN LUTHER KING, jr. & CORETTA SCOTT KING MEMORIAL RESONANCE OF VOICES, HISTORY, LOVE AND ACTION KRZYSZTOF WODICZKO, JULIAN BONDER, MARYANN THOMPSON , WALTER HOOD APPROACH Monuments and memorials are our ethi- uals. as a couple, and as partners in an cal, social, and political companions. Their unprecedented journey in American and historic destiny is to preserve the memo- world History. In this vein, we propose a ry of the past, while providing conditions project not only to celebrate their lives for building a better future. As we renew and accomplishments, but to invite pres- our commitment to continue the strug- ent and future generations to grapple gle for human and civil rights in the 21st with the fundamental lesson articulated century – in the face of repeated historic by Coretta King: “Struggle is a never The ultimate measure traumas, massive human injustices such ending process. Freedom is never real- “ as present-day mass incarceration, con- ly won, you earn it and win it in every tinued oppression and violence against generation.” of a man is not where he women, LGBTQ communities, minorities, and immigrants – we understand the Mar- Indeed, as new generations of Bostonians tin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King and visitors, including new immigrants, stands in moments of Memorial (MLK/CSK Memorial) in Boston will be invited to make of this memori- as a genuine call for action and proactive al part of their own inherited and newly engagement for future generations. created identity, we have challenged our- comfort and convenience, selves to make our proposal address the Articulating an approach to this project political dimension of the long continuing requires facing various artistic, design, struggle for freedom and civil rights, in but where he stands at site, historical, ethical, and social ques- Boston, in the U.S., and in the world. “ tions, such as: How can any of these sites times of challenge and in the Boston Common be meaningfully Our proposal thus envisages the creation transformed into the Martin Luther King of a public space and forum for engage- Jr. and Coretta Scott King Memorial? How ment, nested in the Boston Common, controversy. can their voices, alongside other signifi- that will invite reflection and intercon- Martin Luther King, Jr. cant voices, be welcomed into a new kind nections, at multiple levels and scales of of public space? How might our proposals interaction, in order to foster learning, contribute to redefine the physical, polit- conversation, debate and action. We be- ical, and cultural landscape in Boston? lieve this should be a public space where How can this project establish significant the Kings’ call to action with be heard, ethico-political dialogues with other sites heeded, debated and acted upon; a space of memory and struggle elsewhere in the that will welcome civic celebrations and world? How can we help frame collective public assembly; and a space that will and spontaneous acts of remembrance, become a new ground for contemporary as well as demand proactive engagement activism. As we continue the struggle toward building a better world? against the three evils that King spoke about and fought against -poverty, rac- We envision a Martin Luther King Jr and ism, militarism- we hope that this memori- Coretta Scott King Memorial that ad- al will serve as an affirmation of life, love, dresses the unique relationship the Kings fellowship and community, embodying a had with Boston, the seminal place in welcoming message, in and from Boston, where they found themselves as individ- for generations to come. “Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF VOICES not some more convenient season. It is today “Young people have helped lead all our great movements. How inspiring to see it that our best work can be done and not some again in so many smart, fearless students standing up for their right to be safe; future day or future year. It is today that we marching and organizing to remake the world as it should be. We’ve been waiting for you. And we’ve got your backs. fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are [we] condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. We do these things not only because they’re the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the right, but because they make us safer.” harvest and the playtime.” Barack Obama “No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding W. E. B. Du Bois world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such “I’m no longer accepting could be done. Long established customs of hurtful One is astonished in the study of character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was history at the recurrence of the the things I cannot then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change idea that evil must be forgotten, has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled distorted, skimmed over. We must not change… I’m changing the cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong remember that Daniel Webster got city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners drunk but only that he was a splendid things I cannot accept.” of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the Angela Davis sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning constitutional lawyer. We must are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. From Boston to London is now a forget that George Washington was a holiday excursion. Space is comparatively annihilated. slave owner . and simply remember “I want our young people to know that they matter, Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic, are distinctly heard on the other. The far off and almost the things we regard as creditable that they belong. So don’t be afraid. You hear me, young fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. and inspiring. The difficulty, of people? Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be The fiat of the Almighty, “Let there be Light,” has not course, with this philosophy is that yet spent its force. No abuse, no outrage whether in hopeful. Be empowered. Empower yourself with a good taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the history loses its value as an incentive education. Then get out there and use that education to all-pervading light. The iron shoe, and crippled foot and example; it paints perfect man and of China must be seen, in contrast with nature. Africa build a country worthy of your boundless promise. Lead must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. “Ethiopia noble nations, but it does not tell the shall stretch out her hand unto God.” In the fervent by example with hope; never fear.” aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let truth. Michelle Obama every heart join in saying it.” Gary Younge Frederick Douglass “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” Frederick Douglass THE ripple effects Martin Luther King and Coretta King have hoped that their prophetic commitment, powerful words, and calls for action, will not only reach the hearts and minds of great number of people to whom they spoke, but also that these people, in turn, will further spread and dis- seminate such words among their families, immediate social circles and beyond and turning these words into deeds in larger world and through generations. The great civil rights movement inspired and led by the Kings, was not only a direct result of the public power of their moral and social philosophy, their words and calls for action, but was also the creation of a “ripple effect” of their ideas, voice and commitment. Voice Such ripples extend to all aspects of humanity includ- ing ripples of voice, love, non-violence, fellowship, community, justice, and action. Love Non-Violence Fellowship Community Justice Action project Description The project has embraced the historic and ripples that evoke the “ripple effect” of the bridge, a glass wall offers a more intimate unique task of creating a monument not to words, actions and leadership of The Kings. and self-reflective encounter with written a single hero but to a partnership of two ex- The ripples expand across the site and in- and spoken texts that teach and inspire. The traordinary people. It is designed as a living tersect with the ripples coming from the reflective surface of the glass allows for the thing that must be continually reanimated and mound that rises above. These ripples and visitor to see themselves layered onto and repurposed by the people who engage with it. cyphers are expressions of the community’s within the context of the words., and in the many voices on this new ground for activ- company of ‘others’......inviting then a per- The ultimate goal of the design scheme is to ism. From this ground, The Mound creates sonal call to action for each individual activate a complex public space in order to a journey “to the mountaintop” culminating who interacts with this glass wall. From the inspire learning, dialogue, and activism now in a platform from which to view the paired two Beacon Towers an open plaza allows a and later.