Abstract
Chapter 4 outlines a rhetorical analysis of the King Memorial’s dedication ceremony, which featured singers, celebrities, politicians, and activists, and culminated with a speech from President Barack Obama. Significantly, this chapter reveals the official or, at least, preferred interpretations of the site as articulated by those empowered to speak or perform at the event. Additionally, the chapter discusses how those individuals linked King’s memory to their own political agendas. Finally, the analysis examines how event participants helped the Memorial institutionalize King’s memory.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Michael E. Ruane and Michelle Boorstein, “Earthquake Alters MLK Plans,” Washington Post (August 24, 2011), http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post_now/post/earthquake-alters-mlk-plans/2011/08/24/gIQAHWIvbJ_blog. html.
Barack Obama, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video and transcript, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Christine King Farris, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Harry Johnson, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Bernice King, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Julian Bond, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Joseph Lowery, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Al Sharpton, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Jesse Jackson, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Gwen Ifill, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Vincent Gray, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Andrew Ross Sorkin, “Occupy Wall Street: A Frenzy Tat Fizzled,” New York Times (September 17, 2012), http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/ occupy-wall-street-a-frenzy-that-fzzled/. The Arab Spring and other protests throughout the world also infuenced TIME’s Person of the Year decision.
For further background on controversies surrounding voter ID Laws and Troy Davis, see Pam Fessler, “The Politics Behind New Voter ID Laws,” NPR. org (July 18, 2011), http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/138160440/the-politics-behind-new-voter-id-laws;
and CNN Wire Staf, “Troy Davis Put to Death in Georgia,” CNN Justice (September 22, 2011), http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/21/ justice/georgia-execution/index.html.
Marian Wright Edelmen, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
For examples of articles comparing Obama to King, see Lara Seligman, “Obama’s Close Ties to Martin Luther King Jr.,’ National Journal (August 11, 2011), http://www.nationaljournal.com/mlk/obama-s-close-ties-to-martin-luther-king-jr--20110811; and ‘King and Obama: Eleven Tings in Common,’ BET News (August 23, 2011), http://www.bet.com/news/national/ photos/2011/08/king-and-obama-11-things-in-common.html#!081011-news-national-martin-luther-king-barack-obama-1.
Ken Salazar, dedicatory remarks in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Dedication Choir, performance in Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication, C-SPAN video, 3:22:36, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, October 16, 2011, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302020–1.
Shawn J. Parry-Giles and Trevor Parry-Giles, “Collective Memory, Political Nostalgia, and the Rhetorical Presidency: Bill Clinton’s Commemoration of the March on Washington, August 28, 1998,” Quarterly Journal of Speech 86, no. 4 (2000): 419.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 Jefferson Walker
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Walker, J. (2016). Interpretation, Politicization, and Institutionalization: A Rhetorical Analysis of the King Memorial’s Dedication Ceremony. In: King Returns to Washington: Explorations of Memory, Rhetoric, and Politics in the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137589149_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137589149_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-88774-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58914-9
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)