King Boston is a non-profit organization working to create a living memorial and programs honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, who met through a mutual friend at church while in college in Boston. Dr. King earned his doctorate at Boston University, and Mrs. King earned a degree at the New England Conservatory of Music. King Boston focuses their work on the interrogation of racial inequity and challenges us to imagine what Boston and Massachusetts could be as the epicenter of the country for racial equity, social justice and civil rights for all. There are three main areas for their work: The Embrace, the King memorial; the King Center for Economic Justice; and a series of programming to interrogate race through the humanities and the arts.

 

An Army veteran, Imari began his presentation with a land acknowledgement, a King Boston tradition, to acknowledge the country’s conversation around equity and to raise up our Indigenous and Native American neighbors, “We acknowledge that Boston is situated on the traditional homelands of the Massachusett People. We also acknowledge their relatives and neighbors, the Nipmuc and Wampanoag Peoples.” He then described how the Kings came to Boston, how they met, and their time in the civil rights movement. When thinking about the civil rights movement in Boston, particularly from 1963-1967, there are several individuals to remember and honor in addition to the Kings, including Reverend Michael Haynes, Ruth Batson, Reverend James Reeb, Reverend Virgil Wood, Otto and Muriel Snowden, Reverend James Breeden, Reverend Vernon Carter, Margaret Mosely, Sarah-Ann Shaw, Reverend Walter Davis, Mel King, and Hubie Jones. Imari shared a quote from Dr. King’s Speech on Boston Common in 1965 which is especially meaningful for him when thinking about the past week, January 6 and how Massachusetts and Boston will emerge post pandemic, “It would be irresponsible of me to deny the crippling poverty and injustice that exists in some sections of this community. The vision of the New Boston must extend into the heart of Roxbury. Boston must be a testing ground for the ideal of freedom.” He noted that Boston is a city and a region small enough and educated enough, with the population and resources to be the epicenter for social justice for this country.

 

Imari described how King Boston determined the locations for the memorial and the King Center for Economic Justice, which will be situated at the ends of the Freedom Rally march Dr. King led from Nubian Square in Roxbury to the Boston Common in 1965. He explained the process that led to the design of the King memorial which yielded 126 proposals. Hank Willis Thomas, a New York based artist, and MASS Design Group were selected for their design which was inspired by a photo of the Kings embracing after Dr. King learned he won the Nobel Prize. The memorial will be situated on the Boston Common where the Freedom Rally ended. Imari shared renderings of the memorial which will also include a peace walk to honor other Boston Civil Rights icons.

 

The King Center for Economic Justice will be located in Nubian Square, where the Freedom Rally began. This will be a multi-purpose space that is roughly 30-35,000 square feet of gathering, research, event and gallery space. The design will include an outdoor plaza with a quilted pattern that represents the African American tradition of quilting and Dr. King’s notion of a “garment of destiny,” a community in which we all belong. The intent of the King Center is to be a place of ideas, arts, music and intellectual discourse for the city,

 

The last facet of King Boston is “Embrace Ideas,” which will be a festival and series of gatherings to interrogate race through the arts and the humanities. This will be accomplished through arts, film segments, music, culinary experiences, TedTalks and other ways to focus on the wellbeing of all. The first festival is expected to take place when the memorial is complete in 2022.