MLK, Prophet for Peace - Pueblo, CO
Posted by: Outspoken1
N 38° 17.760 W 104° 36.740
13S E 533898 N 4238728
This controversial sculpting of Martin Luther King has made this monument more a joke than memorial of the Civil Rights struggle. The sculpture used to be in Denver's City Park.
Waymark Code: WMN5Z4
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 01/01/2015
Views: 2
This statue was originally in Denver's City Park (I remember it in the 1980s). The piece features a very large-headed Martin Luther King in deacon's robe walking with Emmet Till (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till ). The piece was sculpted in 1976 by Ed Rose. In 2002 the statue was moved to the Martin Luther King Jr. Museum and Cultural Center in Pueblo, Colorado. It now sits in this vacant lot in a neighborhood well away from central Pueblo. (see (
visit link) ) The museum itself has fallen on hard times and may lose its collection. (see (
visit link) )
This sculpture features MLK in a deacon's robe walking with Emmit Till (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till ). The plaque includes the final stanza of MLK's "Ive' Been to the Mountaintop" speech given April 3, 1968 in Memphis, TN - the next day he was assassinated.
"I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And so I'm happy tonight; I'm not worried about anything; I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." (from (
visit link) )
An entire transcription including the crowd assertions may be found at (
visit link) . The audio may be found at (
visit link) .
"MLK Statue With Big Head
Built in the 1970s, the Martin Luther King Jr figure wears flowing robes and walks with Emmett Till, another Civil Rights martyr. The artist wasn't paid for years by the client, because MLK's head was so big. The artist argued that MLK had a big head, and eventually got his money." (from (
visit link) )