The sculpture of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will join the Mahatma Gandhi and Cesar Chavez monuments in the Peace Garden.

Yolanda King to speak at unveiling

by Tom Uribes

The university's Peace Garden will gain a third symbolic work of art next month when a life-size bronze sculpture of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is dedicated in commemoration of the late civil rights leader's 70th birthday.

King's eldest daughter, Yolanda King, will be the keynote speaker for the event, scheduled for Monday, Jan. 18, from 1 to 2:15 p.m. Following a program in the North Gym, participants will proceed to the Peace Garden, where the King sculpture will stand between the Mahatma Gandhi bust and the Cesar E. Chavez sculpture.

Lt. Govenor-elect Cruz M. Bustamante will deliver the welcome. Dr. Jerome Jackson, criminology professor and co-chair of the university's King Monument Committee, said the event will incorporate the annual citywide observance normally held downtown by the city's Unity Committee.

Yolanda King, 43, is an actress, producer and lecturer who speaks and performs nationally and internationally when she is not working on theater and film production projects from her home.

Born in Montgomery, Ala., two weeks before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus there in 1955 ­ an action credited with triggering the movement that ultimately desegregated the South ­ Ms. King has been honored with numerous awards and citations for her lifelong efforts in the struggle for human rights.

She performs a one-woman theater production entitled "Achieving The Dream," which presents the imagery and works of her father.

The $50,000 sculpture of Dr. King, who was assassinated in 1968, was created by Dr. Richard Blake. Blake is an assistant professor of art at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, where he teaches sculpture and three-dimensional design.

The 500-lb. statue depicts Dr. King in his ministerial robes, holding a small child, which Blake said represents innocence and is symbolic of King's concern with future generations.

Blake was selected from a field of 24 artists across the nation who submitted entries.

The award for the 6-foot by 30-inch sculpture was made possible with gifts from The Associated Students, the Foundation, and James and Coke Hallowell, as well as several other campus and community individuals.

Dr. Robert Mikell, ethnic studies professor and committee co-chair, said more than 2,000 people are expected to fill the North Gym for the program.

Participating guests will include the O'Neill Sisters of Fresno, the Community Mass Choir, Rabbi Robert Siegel of Temple Beth Israel in Fresno and Rev. Delman Howard, pastor of Carter AME Church in Fresno.

The Peace Garden was established in 1990 with the installation of the Gandhi bust. The full-figure sculpture of Chavez, the late founder of the United Farm Workers union, was erected in 1996.

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