By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 21, 2021 — Bahamas Prime Minister the Hon. Philip E. Davis presented the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation with a national gift from the people of The Bahamas on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the memorial, located at 1964 SW Independence Avenue in Washington, DC.
The Prime Minister, who is in Washington attending several events celebrating the 10th anniversary of the King Memorial, made the presentation at an anniversary gala dinner Wednesday night, held under the theme, “Moving the Dream Forward …Forever a Stone of Hope.”
The gift was an attractively framed blown-up historic photograph of Dr. King in intense discussion with renowned Bahamas Labour Leader Sir Randol Fawkes during a visit by Dr. King to Nassau, Bahamas, in November 1958.
Of couse, Dr. King was a regular visitor to the island of Bimini in The Bahamas, and this is where he retreated to write the Nobel Prize-winning acceptance speech he delivered in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, 1964.
Among those in the presentation photo are First Lady Ann-Marie Davis, wife of the Prime Minister; Sir Franklyn Wilson, Chairman of Sunshine Holdings Ltd.; his wife, Sharon Lady Wilson, former President of the Bahamas Senate; and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, US Representative from California’s 43rd Congressional District.
Congresswoman Waters and her husband Sidney Williams have been a very close frieds of Sir Franklyn and Lady Sharon from Mr. Williams was Ambassador to The Bahamas from 1994-1998. Since then, they have frequently been house guests of Sir Franklyn and Lady Sharon on their visits to Nassau, mainly during the Christmas season because they are huge fans of Junkanoo.
Shortly after he arrived in D.C. on Wednesday, Prime Minister Davis was met at the entrance of the Marriott Marquis Washington D.C. hotel entrance by Harry Johnson Sr., chair and President of the Martin Luther King Monument Memorial.
Prime Minister Davis also addressed the National Board of Directors of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the first black intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity, of which Martin Luther King Jr. was a member, and expressed his excitement in welcoming them to The Bahamas for their upcoming international conference.
Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the ceremony held on the Mall in downtown D.C. on Thursday marking the 10th anniversary of the opening of the civil rights leader’s memorial on the National Mall.
According to an Associated Press article, President Biden “tied his legislative priorities on voting rights, police reform and climate change to Martin Luther King Jr.’s push for racial justice as he marked the 10th anniversary of the opening of the civil rights leader’s memorial on the National Mall.”
“Biden, introduced by Vice President Kamala Harris, sought to reassure his supporters that he wouldn’t let up the fight as he works to muscle his massive social spending bill through a divided Congress,” the Associated Press reported. “Invoking King, Biden said the country was still working to live up to its ideals as a nation and had reached an inflection point on issues including fighting voting restrictions.”
“I know that progress does not come fast enough,” Biden was quoted as saying. “It never has.”
The Associated Press noted that Biden “spoke at the memorial a day after Senate Republicans blocked debate on Democrats’ elections legislation that they tout as a powerful counterweight to new voting restrictions passing in conservative-controlled states.”
The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial was dedicated in the fall of 2011 and is the first honor for an African American on the National Mall. Located on Independence Avenue along the Tidal Basin, the memorial features a huge likeness of King carved out of stone and a separate wall etched with some of his most notable quotes.
“Recalling the struggles of King’s time, Biden said in his speech that white nationalism still poses a threat to the nation and that, in his view, it inspired the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol,” the Associated Press reported. “Biden said people of his generation always thought that hate would go away.”
The President, however, was quoted as saying: “But it doesn’t. It only hides until some seemingly legitimate person breathes some oxygen under the rocks where they’re hiding and gives it some breath.”
Vice President Harris, for her part, praised King as a “prophet” and said the monument “is dedicated to a man who lived among us,” the Associated Press reported.
She was quoted as saying: “This monument, whatever your age, is dedicated to a man whose voice we still hear, whose words still echo not only across this city, but throughout our country and our world.”
