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National Mall ready to take on new look

Thousands expected at unveiling of King memorial

Thousands expected at unveiling of King memorial

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

USA Today

Marion residents headed to the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial will be Willie Bryant was just out of the Army when he heard about the March on Washington planned for Aug. 28, 1963. It struck a chord.

Bryant was weary of the racism he'd grown up with in Florida, of being left behind when his fellow soldiers went out for a night on the town because he wouldn't be allowed in the spots where they were socializing. The time had come, he thought, for a march for equality.

He got in his car in Trenton, N.J., and drove to Washington.

Next week, he'll travel to Washington again, this time to the dedication of a monument to Martin Luther King Jr., whose "I Have a Dream" speech that day Bryant sees as a turning point in history.

"Dr. King … electrified the crowd," says Bryant, 72, of Wesley Hills, N.Y. "A special feeling went through my body. It was a sight to see."

Today, Bryant is an example of the changes King helped bring about. Living in a tony New York suburb, he'll retire soon from a career as a dentist. No longer is he chased home by the Ku Klux Klan. No longer does he drink from water fountains marked "colored."

And as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the fraternity King belonged to, Bryant has helped build the memorial with donations totaling more than $1,000.

Now he's getting ready to attend the dedication on the National Mall. It is being unveiled on the anniversary of King's speech.

"It's great to be alive, to be able to go back," he says. "I'm just happy that we were able to help put that monument up for generations to come."

He's gratified, he says, that his group, the Eta Chi Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, is pushing to bring young people on the three buses it has chartered.

"To me, the most important thing is it's not about going back, it's about taking some young people," Bryant says.

"Our schools, they are teaching our kids how to repeat the 'I Have a Dream' speech. … Our students should know the history leading up to the march. The speech is important, but the history is more important."

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, which has been raising money for the $120million memorial, is making arrangements for hundreds of buses bringing people for events all next week.

In Jacksonville, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History is sending a 58-passenger coach for a four-day excursion.

King spoke in Jacksonville in 1960 and motivated people to push for desegregation, says Anita Shepherd, treasurer of the history organization. She credits King with helping to open doors that led to her becoming a phone company executive.

"For those of us who saw him or who heard him or followed him, we became pioneers in our own right and opened the door for the next generation," she says.

Leonard Young of Newark, Del., is 34, too young to have seen King speak, but says he appreciates the effect the memorial will have on history. Young, founder of the DelawareBlack.com networking and social website, is organizing two buses from Wilmington and Dover, Del.

"I guess really overall it just kind of makes me think of unity," Young says. "The 'I Have a Dream' speech wasn't necessarily for African Americans, but it was for all races."

Bryant says he is glad to be going back, now that he has had decades to reflect on the importance of King and the effect of his famous speech on history.

"I didn't realize how great that speech was at that time," Bryant says, "but I knew it was great."

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