The new statue honoring civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was unveiled in Washington, D.C., on Monday. It is the first memorial on the National Mall not dedicated to a war, president or white man. The memorial is located on a four-acre site on the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. The MLK memorial consists of a 30-foot sculpture of King. On either side of the mountain, a 450-foot-long wall is inscribed with 14 quotations from the famous orator’s speeches, sermons and writings. The sculpture was made in China by the sculptor Master Lei Yixin. Harry Johnson is president of the Martin Luther King Memorial Project.

Harry E. Johnson, Sr., president and CEO of Martin Luther King Memorial Project Foundation: “America is diversified, so when you come and see Jefferson, Lincoln and Washington in D.C., it’s not just one race of people. It’s not just these old guys who you read about, but here’s somebody who people may have touched, may have shook his hand, and he is an up-to-date hero that changed this country and made this country and now the world look more diversified as a way we see ourselves.”