PRESIDENT Barack Obama proved that he is not an ungrateful person. As a prime beneficiary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s fight for social and economic justice, he acknowledged the civil rights' activist contributions to the United States (U.S.).Obama and other personalities yesterday called on all U.S. citizens to imbibe the ideals and values of King for which he lived and died for.According to Obama, Rev. Jesse Jackson and others, who spoke at the belated official dedication of King National Memorial, all what the rights activist fought for have not been completed until Americans confront issues like oppression, social and economic injustice.The monument to the slain civil rights leader was earlier slated to be dedicated on August 28, the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington when King delivered his world-altering 'I Have a Dream' speech, but Hurricane Irene forced the event to be postponed.The memorial site, which features a striking 30-foot statue of King gazing out on the iconic Tidal Basin, lies between the Lincoln Memorial and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial on the National Mall. The statue, representing a 'Stone of Hope,' sits forward from a 'Mountain of Despair.'The Cable News Network (CNN) quoted Obama as saying at the dedication ceremony: 'Nearly 50 years after the March on Washington, our work - Dr. King's work - is not yet complete.'Continuing, Obama said the U.S. faces many challenges, including an ailing economy, substandard education, war and tragedy.Progress, he said, can often be a slow and painful process.Obama also recalled that during the civil rights movement, 'progress was purchased through enduring the smack of billy clubs and the blast of fire hoses. It was bought with days in jail cells and nights of bomb threats.'Every victory was met with setbacks and defeat, Obama added.He emphasized that America of today could draw strength from that struggle, 'from King's belief that we are one people and from his refusal to give up.'Let us not be trapped by what is,' Obama said. 'We can't be discouraged by what is. We've got to keep pushing for what ought to be.'He noted that King 'will stand for all time, among monuments to those who fathered this nation and those who defended it. A black preacher, no official rank or title, somehow gave voice to our deepest dreams and our most lasting ideas.'I know we will overcome,' the president said. 'I know there are better days ahead. I know this because of the man towering over us.'However, on the initial postponement, Rev. Bernice King - one of King's daughters - it was perhaps a divine intervention.'Perhaps, God wanted us to move beyond the dream into action,' she said.'As we dedicate this monument, I can hear my father saying that oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever,' she said. 'The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself ... I hear my father saying what we are seeing now, all across the streets of America and the world, is a freedom explosion.'Other speakers at the dedication included the Rev. Al Sharpton; the Rev. Joseph Lowery; actresses Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll and 12-year-old Amandla Stenberg; and Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defence Fund.Singer Aretha Franklin sang 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord,' a tune she said King often requested. The Obamas listened intently as she sang. Michelle Obama applauded in spots, while the president closed his eyes.The Obama family toured the memorial before the president's speech.
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