The ''Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial'' is a memorial to

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

at the

Martin Luther King Drive station Martin Luther King Drive is a station of the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail in the Jackson Hill neighborhood of Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey. Located on the east side of Martin Luther King Drive (Hudson County Route 609, named for ...

of the

Hudson–Bergen Light Rail The Hudson–Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) is a light rail system in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Owned by New Jersey Transit (NJT) and operated by the 21st Century Rail Corporation, it connects the communities of Bayonne, Jersey City, ...

in the Jackson Hill section of

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

and accompanying

bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s — was created by the sculptor Jonathan Shahn (1938-2020), who was son of

Ben Shahn Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969) was an American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as ''The Shape of Content''. Biography Shahn was bor ...

. It was commissioned by

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

and unveiled in 2000 upon the stations's opening. The bronze bust is set atop a granite pedestal. Accompanying bronze

s, in 2-foot sections, entitled ''The Struggle for Civil Rights in the Martin Luther King Era'', show scenes and figures from the civil rights movement. The reverse side is inscribed with a quotation from King's Letter from Birmingham Jail: "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." King is known to have made at least two speeches in Jersey City. On September 21, 1965, he received an honorary Doctor of Law from St. Peter's College. Dr. King gave an address titled "The American Dream." On Wednesday, March 27, 1968, barely a week before his death, nearly 2,000 heard King at Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church in which her rallied support the

Poor People's Campaign The Poor People's Campaign, or Poor People's March on Washington, was a 1968 effort to gain economic justice for poor people in the United States. It was organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCL ...

and the

Memphis sanitation strike The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Death of Echol Cole and Robert Walker, Echol Cole and Robert Walker.Estes, S. (2000). `I AM A MAN A MAN?’: Race, Masculinity, and the 1 ...

. The Afro-American Historical and Cultural Society Museum in Jersey City documents those visits.

References

{{Martin Luther King Jr. Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr. Culture of Jersey City, New Jersey Outdoor sculptures in New Jersey Monuments and memorials in New Jersey 2000 sculptures Buildings and structures in Jersey City, New Jersey Tourist attractions in Jersey City, New Jersey Statues in New Jersey Sculptures of men in New Jersey 2000 establishments in New Jersey Public art in Jersey City, New Jersey African-American history of New Jersey

See also

References