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King Boston breaks ground on ‘The Embrace’ memorial on Boston Common

BOSTON — A huge memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife is now in the process of being built on the Boston Common.

The groundbreaking for this monument, called “The Embrace,” took place Wednesday, and it’s expected to be completed by the end of this year.

“Other cities are tearing down memorials, tearing down monuments, changing street names. Boston’s building memorials, we’re building new street names, we’re creating new neighborhoods,” said Imari Paris Jeffries, executive director of King Boston. “So I think this is a part of this new Boston we’ve all wanted to live in.”

A new Boston, where everyone is embraced, no matter their race or background. That’s the message of this new massive memorial that’s being built in the middle of the Common.

“I feel like every single thing I heard today, I was kind of starstruck a little bit by the amount of impact it’s going to have when it’s fully developed,” said Grant Williams, a starter for the Celtics.

The monument depicts the arms of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. hugging his wife Coretta Scott King.

“We need to be that shiny city on a hill that sends a message to everybody else that the time has come for something very different,” said Gov. Charlie Baker.

The memorial will stand 20 feet tall by 40 feet wide in America’s oldest public park along the Freedom Trail. It’ll also be surrounded by the new Freedom Plaza with plaques honoring 65 Bostonians who were active in the civil rights movement.

“There will be a corresponding app and so when folks, before they come and visit The Embrace memorial, they can learn about these other Bostonians, learn about the Kings. It’ll be an open air museum if you will,” said Paris Jeffries.

Paris Jeffries says this location is also symbolic.

Dr. King ended his freedom rally in the Boston Common with 22,000 marchers in 1965.

He also had one of his first dates with Coretta Scott King walking through this park.

“So to have both this political movement-oriented reason to be in the park and really this wholesome reason around their families – their origin story started here in Boston, so we feel fortunate to be able to honor them by being here,” said Paris Jeffries.

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