$80,000 A Word Is Not A Bargain!

I never thought that I would be posting a blog to this site about the new $120,000,000 Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in Washington D.C. It seems that the memorial is already embroiled in controversy. The scheduled inauguration on Aug. 28, 2011 was interrupted by Hurricane Irene. Then, poet Maya Angelou objected to an inscription which reads: "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness."

To top it off, some citizens are ironically upset because the sculpture depicting an African-American was outsourced to China and carved by Chinese artist Lei Yixin. Ms. Angelou wants a more long-winded message, to wit: “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness.”

The problem is that The King Family charges $80,000 per word to use his pronouncements. So the extended quote would cost another $2,000,000 in taxpayer money. Ed Jackson, the executive architect for the project says the quotation won’t be changed, despite the criticism that it makes MLK sound arrogant. It is possible that many people recently have started referring to Martin Luther King Jr. as MLK because of this.

When it comes to a project like this it seems it is is all about money. Just how much a word would it cost to make everybody happy? I had a dream that Washington would someday get something right, that hope has been dashed yet once again. This posting takes the pressure off, any  thought that every post has to be earth shatering or incredibly deep.