November 4, 2007
An important milestone was reached Sunday, October 28, 2007 when the California
State NAACP Conference ratified a Resolution in support of the
Atlanta-based "King Is Ours" Movement which is protesting decisions
made by the King Memorial Project Foundation for the proposed monument to Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Resolution, submitted by Gwen Moore, 1st Vice President of the California
State NAACP, demands that the decision to use an artist famous for his sculptures
glorifying Mao Zedong and other leaders of the People's Republic of China be
overturned. The Resolution also denounces the decision to use granite quarried
in the People's Republic of
"This is a wonderful." Said Gilbert Young, co-founder of the King Is
Ours movement. "The NAACP is the oldest and most respected Civil Rights
Organization in this country. They know who and what Dr. King stood for, and
they also agree that the decisions made by the King Foundation Memorial Project
committee go against the philosophy of Dr. King." Young added, "The
Foundation promoted this project by saying 'A fitting memorial to Dr.
King would be one that gives clearest expression to this ideal of human
dignity.' yet the monument, as it stands, is an affront to the ideal of
human dignity."
Young will read the Resolution in its entirety during a
"The Foundation was given $10 million in US Federal funds, but no granite
company was allowed to bid on the project." Said Young. "That was a
bad decision.
The California NAACP State Conference was the first to present a
Resolution in support of the King Is Ours Protest Movement to its members. King
Is Ours Protesters, made up of a multi-racial, multi-cultural base of
activists, plan to forward the Resolution to every State NAACP office.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Lea Winfrey Young
Winfrey/Young Public Relations
678-933-2691
youngartone@aol.com
www.kingisours.com
From: simeon.gant@ca-naacp.org
To: bjackson421@hotmail.com
Subject: Resolution #11
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:17:55 -0700
Martin Luther King Memorial Project Resolution #11
To repatriate the proposed Monument to the Reverend Dr. martin Luther King, Jr. from the People’s Republic of China by demanding that African American Artists be named Artists-of-Record, and that American Granite is utilized;
Whereas, Dr King was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, our country’s oldest black fraternity, which was founded on the premise of promoting brotherhood and academic excellence, while providing service and advocacy for our communities and to encourage the highest and noblest form of manhood; and
Whereas, Section 508 of the
Whereas, The Martin Luther King Jr., National Memorial Project Foundation conducted a memorial design competition in 2000, and according to competition guidelines this was “in recognition of Dr. King’s enormous contribution to positive social change in the United States and throughout the world” and that a “fitting memorial to Dr. King would be one that gives clearest expression to this ideal of human dignity”; and
Whereas, The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation has chosen to outsource the production of the monument to Dr. King to the People’s Republic of China, the country with the worst record of human rights violations and civil rights abuses in the world, which is an affront to the ideal of human dignity; and
Whereas, The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation removed the African American firm Devrouax & Purnell Architects and terminated the African American sculptor, Ed Dwight, who was originally contracted to serve as consultant and Artist-of-Record for the King memorial; and
Whereas, The Foundation has chosen to employ as Artist-of-Record, Lei Yixin, an artist from the People’s Republic of China, who is renowned for his many sculptures and busts glorifying Mao Zedong, murder of 70 million innocent Chinese, which is in direct opposition to Dr. King’s philosophy and to the ideal of positive social change throughout the world; and
Whereas, Federal funds were allocated to the memorial project with Senate backed Amendment #1053, FY 2006 Interior Appropriations Law which gave $10 million to the Foundation for the memorial project and mandated an open bidding process; and
Whereas, the USA Granite Industry, was not to bid on the monument project and a decision was made to allow the monument to Dr. King to be created with stone quarried and carved in the People’s Republic of China by laborers working in deadly conditions, and for wages considered by human rights activists to be akin to slave labor;
Therefore be it resolved, the California State Conference of the NAACP demands that the decision to use Lei Yixin, from the People’s Republic of China, an artist renowned for glorifying Mao Zedong be overturned; and denounces the decision to use granite quarried using slave labor, and demands that stone for the monument to Dr. King be quarried and carved in America;
Be it further resolved, NAACP California State Conference calls upon Congress to conduct a formal investigation into the dismissal of sculptor Ed Dwight, who was originally contracted to serve as consultant and Artist-of-Record for the King memorial, and into the replacement of the African American firm Devroaux & Purness Architects;
Be it finally resolved, that the California State Conference of the NAACP demands that the King Memorial Project Foundation name an African American artistic team as Artists-of-Record for the monument to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and that an oversight committee be created to enforce these resolutions.
Submitted by: Gwen Moore, 1st Vice President
Approved by the delegates on:
Secretary ________________________ President__________________________
Date _________________________ Date______________________________
Simeon Gant
Legislative Advocate
CA State NAACP
(916) 498-1898 office
(916) 498-1895 fax