Unveiling the Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Statue, 40 Years Later

By: Natashia Cooper

On Saturday, July 9, 2016, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center held a special program to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the unveiling of Dr. King’s statue, a 7-foot bronze sculpture which rests on the Center’s property. Special guests included vocalist Nelda Washington, the Alvin Wheeler American Legion Post 292, and Keynote Speaker Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price. Attendees included former Advisory Board members, members of the Alpha Sigma Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and supporters of the Community Center over the years.

Forty years ago, the MLK, Jr. Community Center Advisory Board, along with prominent civic leaders, worked hard to raise the funds and commissioned this monument as a donation to the City of Dallas in honor of Dr. King and the American Bicentennial. Designed by local Artist Walter Winn, it was unveiled during a special ceremony by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr. in front of a crowd of 6000 people, at the time the largest gathering of people ever in South Dallas.

The statue will continue to stand as a tribute to Dr. King’s legacy and serves as a monument to freedom, opportunity, and justice for which he stood. In the words of Dr. King, “without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation….the time is always right to do what it right.” As a community, let us continue to work hard and do what’s right, even in the face of adversity.