Martin Luther King Jr. memorial quote to be changed

A quote carved in stone on the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington will be changed after the inscription was criticized for not accurately reflecting the civil rights leader's words.

The inscription currently reads: "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness." The phrase is chiseled into one side of a massive block of granite that includes King's likeness emerging from the stone. It became a point of controversy after the memorial opened in August.

A spokesman for the U.S Department of the Interior said Friday that Secretary Ken Salazar decided to have the quote changed. The Washington Post first reported on Friday the decision to change the inscription.

IN PICTURES: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

The phrase is modified from a sermon known as the "Drum Major Instinct," in which the 39-year-old Kingexplained to his Atlanta congregation how he would like to be remembered at his funeral. He made the February 1968 speech just two months before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.

In the speech, King's words seem more modest than the paraphrased inscription: "Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."

Poet Maya Angelou previously said the truncated version made King sound like "an arrogant twit" because it was out of context.

Salazar gave the National Park Service, which the Interior Department oversees, a month to consult with the King Memorial Foundation, which led the effort to build the memorial, as well as family members and other interested parties. The committee is supposed to come up with a more accurate alternative to the quote.

Ed Jackson Jr., the executive architect of the $120 million project, previously said King's words were shortened for space reasons and that he stood by the paraphrased line.

He said in an emailed statement on Friday evening that the cost to make changes to the inscription will be assessed but none of the existing stone work will be removed.

"A few very carefully selected words will be added to the existing phrase; that will further amplify his statement about his role in America during the mid-20th century as a leader, a social advocate, a messenger, a voice of the people ... for freedom, justice, hope and peace," he said.

Harry Johnson, president of the King Memorial Foundation, said it wasn't yet clear what the alternatives might be. The group would look at all the ways a change could be made, he said.

Angelou was named among the memorial's Council of Historians tasked with selecting the inscriptions for the memorial. But she did not attend meetings about the inscriptions, Jackson said. Project planners also explained the shortened quote to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which ultimately approved the memorial's design.

At least one other recent memorial has undergone changes after being opened to the public. After the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial opened in 1997, advocates for the disabled campaigned to have a statue added portraying Roosevelt in his wheelchair. Originally, only one statue in the memorial alluded to the fact Roosevelt lost the use of his legs after contracting polio as an adult. That statue portrayed him seated with small wheels on the back of his chair.

In 2001, a bronze sculpture depicting Roosevelt in his self-designed wheelchair was added to the entrance of the memorial. Disability groups raised $1.65 million for the addition.

Donald Trump And Bret Michaels Teaming Up For New Reality Series

Hair band meets bad hair for a new reality show? Donald Trump is apparently in talks with Poison front man Bret Michaels to create a reality series that will see the rocker traveling the country in search of people he can help overcome their problems. Titled Something To Believe In, the new series isn’t the first time Donald and Bret have met on the reality TV stage, but it seems to be going in a very different direction from past endeavors.

Donald Trump has set his sights back a little lower after dropping out of the Presidential race in May. The New York Post reports he’s working on a new series with Bret Michaels, who won Celebrity Apprentice in its third season back in 2010 in spite of a life-threatening illness. Michaels, who is best known for fronting one of the most successful glam rock bands of the late 80’s, Poison, has in recent years moved on to make a name for himself in reality television. He has run the gamut from a trashy version of The Bachelor called Rock of Love in which a group of 80’s Barbie doll lookalikes competed for his attention, to his VH1 series Bret Michaels: Life As I Know It.

This new series will see Michaels present his philanthropic side, seeking out people facing adversity in their lives and swooping in to the rescue like a long-haired, guitar-toting, rhinestone cowboy hat-wearing angel of mercy. Or something like that. Trump, whose long-running Apprentice series is likely nearing the end, is probably looking to hop on board with Michaels in the hopes of a new hit – and that perhaps being involved in such a project will improve his image and give him better odds the next time he throws his hat in the political ring.

The series is still in the beginning stages, but the unlikely pair certainly has the financial backing and the reality TV background to make it happen. Michaels, who still has a strong following of nostalgic Poison fans could very well take this show on the road.

Former GM exec and attorney Rod Gillum to be part of MLK memorial dedication

Rod Gillum, a former vice president of corporate responsibility and diversity at General Motors Co., will play only a small role in the dedicating of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial — but considers the memorial itself a huge achievement.
"It's personal. As a kid growing up in Detroit, I was here when he gave (an early version of) his 'I have a Dream' speech in 1963, before he delivered it in DC. In that sense, it's been very much a journey for me," said Gillum, now a partner at Jackson Lewis LLP's Southfield office after retiring in late 2009 from GM, which will serve as dedication chair at the Aug. 28 ceremony.
"Watching this dream become a memorial helps complete that journey."
Gillum also chairs the board of directors for the nonprofit Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation Inc. and a past chairman of the General Motors Foundation.
That foundation is the largest corporate contributor to the memorial with a cash gift of about $5 million and another $5 million of "in-kind" contributions such as promotional advertisting, Gillum said. He expects to be "on the program only very briefly" while the Memorial Foundation finalizes some commitments from headlining speakers, and hopes to have President Obama in attendance.
"The national mall is where we honor people who have made substantial contributions, and we believe it's the first recognition on the mall of a single citizen who was not a president or a war veteran, and the first to a person of color," he said. "It's important to memorialize the significance of that contribution to the country now, for future generations."
The foundation board helped provide oversight to both site construction and in establishing day-to-day operations of the new $120 million memorial.
Some project funding comes from Congress and individual donations, but Gillum estimates more than 80 percent of it has come from corporate and foundation sponsorship. Other Michigan-based contributors of $1 million or more include the Ford Motor Co. Fund and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
John Montford, current senior advisor of Government Relations and Global Public Policy at GM who succeeded Gillum as chairman of the GM Foundation, also serves on an executive leadership council for the King memorial foundation.
The memorial site, designed by San Francisco-based ROMA Design Group and built by a joint venture of McKissack & McKissack of Washington Inc. and Turner Construction Co., features a crescent shaped wall inscribed with notable excerpts from King's collected works and a 30-foot likeness of King carved from granite and dubbed the "Stone of Hope."
The statue title is a reference to an address where King discussed being "able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope."