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BOSTON (WHDH) - After careful planning, creativity and construction work, a 20-foot-high bronze sculpture honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King will be unveiled on the Boston Common Friday, honoring the King family and more, according to organizers.
When it comes to the legacy of the King family, Boston is embracing their impact and lives with the addition of “The Embrace” statue in the city park – a sculpture featuring two entwined arms that pays tribute to the couple who fell in love in the city and went on to change the world.
“We are the only city in America where the King’s love story began,” said Imari Paris Jeffries, the executive director of Embrace Boston, the non-profit overseeing the project. “I bet many of us would not have thought that their origin story began here in the city.”
The sculpture, created by artist Hank Willis Thomas, was inspired by a photo of Dr. King and Coretta Scott King embracing after the civil rights leader learned he had won the Nobel Peace Prize.
“It was as if Dr. King’s entire body weight was resting on her shoulders, so we thought it was symbolic of the power of women, Black women, women in general being the holders, the keepers, the foundations of many movements,” Jeffries said.
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WATCH: The moment “The Embrace” was officially unveiled at Boston Common
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The two’s love story began in Boston in the 1950s, when Martin Luther King Jr. was studying at Boston University while Coretta Scott was studying at the New England Conservatory. Jefferies said the Boston Common, the location of one of the couple’s first dates, was the perfect place to honor them and their enduring dream.
“Boston could be a new city,” Jefferies told 7NEWS. “With ‘The Embrace,’ it could be the city of belonging, inclusion and love. To have this memorial in America’s oldest park, where six million visitors per year walk through the park, felt like the most appropriate place to put it – on the Freedom Trail, in proximity so that visitors and residents have access to it.”
The site has other historical meaning, as well. Dr. King led a march for racial equality on April 23, 1965, which started in Roxbury and featured 22,000 people gathering on the Common to hear him speak. Jefferies calls the spot hallowed ground.
“When you’re on the site, it’s very quiet – it’s very joyful, it’s very contemplative,” he added.
Organizers of “The Embrace,” including Jefferies, hope that when the public comes out to see the monument for themselves, they see the sculpture not only with their eyes, but also with their hearts.
“I was overwhelmed with emotion, with joy – it was at that moment what solidified for me was not only were we building this memorial to honor the Kings, but we were building something special for Boston.”
The unveiling on Friday, Jan. 13 will be followed by an official opening to the public sometime in early February, according to officials.
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