The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial was scheduled to be dedicated this weekend, before Irene intervened.  Here's a view of the Memorial from the "MLK Construction Camera."

 I'm currently reading Brad Gooch's excellent biography of the great Southern writer Flannery O'Connor.  In that book, Mr. Gooch mentions the premiere of Gone With The Wind in 1939 Atlanta.  [Unlike many of her Georgia contemporaries, Ms. O'Connor was not enamored with the film, stating "I sure am sick of the Civil War."]

 Hattie McDaniel, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress that year for her portrayal of Mammy, did not attend the premiere.  She was not invited because she was black.

Mr. Gooch includes this sentence in his account of activities associated with the opening of Gone With The Wind:  "The sixty-voice Ebenezer Baptist Church Choir, directed by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., entertained at a whites-only Junior League ball associated with the opening event; choir members, including the ten-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr., were dressed as slaves."

I wonder what Dr. King would say about this story now?  Maybe he'd smile about it, which would be nice.  The Memorial sculpture seems a bit stern.  One thing he might tell us is that while memorials are important, and it is interesting to consider the past faults of our forebears, the hard work is doing the right thing here and now.  And we should focus on the hard work.