“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, say that I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter… I just want to leave a committed life behind.”
-Martin Luther King Jr. February 4, 1968
A paraphrased version of this phrase is inscribed on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. reading:
“I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness,” the monument says.
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Today the inscription is being fixed. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told the Washington Post today that the quote will be corrected and has given the National Park Service 30 days.
Salazar said:
“Things only happen when you put a deadline on it. This is important because Dr. King and his presence on the Mall is a forever presence for the United States of America, and we have to make sure that we get it right.”
Public opinion wins again as many have been fighting for the monument to be corrected. One of the first to voice their concerns over the inscription was famed poet and writer Maya Angelou, who knew and worked with King. She said the truncated quote made King seem like “an arrogant twit.”
Salazar went on to say that “I do not think it’s an accurate portrayal of what Dr. King was,” and he’s right.
The quote will be fixed and all will be righted just in time for Dr. King’s birthday on January 15th. He would have been 83 years old.
