MIAMI — A 20-year dream to build a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., moved a million steps closer to reality on Wednesday in Miami.
A $1 million donation from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation pushed the effort to honor the slain civil rights leader over the milestone $100 million mark — and supporters are launching a campaign, with help from former President Bill Clinton and the Miami Heat, that they hope will inspire others to at least match that amount.
With the memorial foundation now closing in on its goal of $120 million, Harry Johnson, president and CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, said work should begin “very soon,” with a completion target of 2010.
