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Where MLK and Coretta met and studied, a memorial will rise

This artist's rendering provided by MASS Design Group illustrates a proposed monument entitled "The Embrace," consisting of four 22-foot-high intertwined bronze arms. As cities and states continue to grapple with the legacy of controversial monuments, Boston is moving forward with a major effort commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Organizers are building what they say will be the country's largest memorial dedicated to racial equity at the site of a 1965 civil rights rally that MLK led on the city's historic Boston Common. (Hank Willis Thomas/MASS Design Group via AP)
by: WRTV Staff
Posted: / Updated:

BOSTON (AP) — A memorial honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King is moving forward in Boston. The civil rights couple met and studied there in the 1950s.

Organizers say fabrication of a towering bronze sculpture depicting arms embracing is expected to start in March.

Imari Paris Jeffries is executive director of the group King Boston. He says the effort also includes an economic justice center and annual racial equity festival in Boston.

“It’s not only how symbols and monuments represent this commitment to equity and inclusion,” Jeffries said. “It’s also about how research, data and policy work to find new solutions, and how we use the arts and humanities to ground us.”

He hopes to demonstrate how public works can serve as a call to action following the national reckoning on racism sparked by George Floyd’s killing last year.

When unveiled late next year, “The Embrace” will be one of the country’s largest new memorials dedicated to racial equity, King Boston says. It will be installed on Boston Common near the site of a 1965 rally and march led by MLK, who would have turned 92 on Friday.

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