MLK: Dreams Now Less Contemplative, More Mildly Amused

So black folks are catching up in a big way these days. Aside from getting a black president, we're also getting a black statue. Or rather, a statue of an important black man. Hooray!

The 28-foot Martin Luther King Jr. national memorial -- also known as the "Stone of Hope" - is pictured below. Apparently there's been some hullabaloo over how angry MLK should be. The picture shows them making the move from, perhaps not angry(?), to mildly amused, or hopefully optimistic. Which I suspect falls in line with the facial expression for the black community en masse. Notice we still have our arms crossed so we're not totally open to conversation or embrace or whathaveyou.

Other bits of Americana worth noting: such a statue, should you want one for yourself, costs approx $100 M. And aside from the figure being memorialized, it feels appropriate that a Chinese sculptor, Lei Yixin, is helming the project with intents on outsourcing the beginning in China. All things that people of varied persuasions are protesting somewhere. Now ain't that America?

Altered MLK Memorial Statue OK'd [AJC, via Gawk]