A Monument Not Fit for a King

img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-102515" title="MLK memorial" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/mlk-memorial1.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="280" /><

Washington, D.C. is about to get its first piece of totalitarian architecture on the National Mall.

Below this paragraph on the left is an image of the main statue from the new Martin Luther King memorial which has just opened up the public. On the right is an image of a statue of (deceased) North Korean President for Life, Kim il-Sung. Although one is the image of a civil rights leader and the other is of a brutal dictator, the two statues are unfortunately very similar:

img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-102505" title="MLK left" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/mlk-left.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="280" /><

A lot of digital ink has been spilt over the design to for the new MLK memorial. It’s ghastly design looks like it came from the Soviet Union. The fact that the Chinese architect who sculpted it also is famous for doing statues of Chairman Mao does not improve the situation.

Since a statue is a visual piece of art, rather then explaining with words what’s wrong with this memorial and why it does not properly honor the memory of Dr. King, I have decided to gather some images which show the visual similarities of the memorial with other pieces of Communist Social Realism.

img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-102506" title="MLK side" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/mlk-side.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="280" /><

img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-102507" title="MLK faces" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/mlk-faces.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="280" /><

img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-102508" title="MLK front" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/mlk-front.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="280" /><