| GRAMMY
AWARD WINNING RAPPER NELLY DONATES $50K TO THE WASHINGTON D.C. MARTIN
LUTHER KING JR. NATIONAL MEMORIAL MONUMENT FOUNDATION
Orlando, FL — YPB&R/DIVERSITY’s
Managing Partner,Ty Christian has partnered with one of the world’s
most recognized musical icons - to promote the Washington, D.C. MLK
National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. YPB&R/DIVERSITY is one
of two firms serving as the Foundation’s communications firm of
record to assist the Foundation in the promotion and marketing of the
MLK National Memorial Monument, the first monument to be placed on the
Washington D.C. Mall honoring a person of color.
Three-time Grammy winning
rapper, actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Cornell “Nelly”
Haynes Jr. presented a check for $50,000 to the Washington D.C. National
Martin Luther King (MLK) Memorial Monument Project Foundation, Inc.’s
President Harry E. Johnson, at a press conference, Monday December 20,
2004.
Nelly, one of the MLK
Foundation’s Dream Team members, was inspired to give his time
and a personal donation to the project because, as he stated, “his
own dreams were made possible because of Martin Luther King’s
dream and to encourage his many fans and America to support the building
of the “dream,” the MLK Memorial Monument on Washington
Mall- the first Monument to be placed on the Washington
Mall honoring a person of color.”
Following the conference,
Nelly will star in the production of a PSA to be aired on the likes
of MTV, BET and other targeted networks that attract the 18-34 audience.
This is a key audience for the MLK Foundation, which wishes to expand
its message to educate a new generation about the many merits of Dr.
King’s legacy.
The National Capital Planning
Commission and The Commission of Fine Arts approved the site location
for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in December of 1999 on
a four-acre plot on the northeast corner of the Tidal Basin within the
precinct of the Jefferson Memorial and north of the memorial to President
Roosevelt. The approved site creates a visual "line of leadership"
from the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King gave his famous
"I Have a Dream" speech, to the Jefferson Memorial within
the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Groundbreaking is set
for Fall 2005 for the monument, which plans to be similar to the Lincoln
Memorial. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial will be an engaging landscape
experience tied to other landscapes and monuments, not as a single object
or memorial dominating the site. The composition of the memorial utilizes
the three main landscape elements of water, stone and trees, to powerfully
convey three fundamental and recurring themes of Dr. King's life: justice,
democracy and hope. The circular geometry of the memorial, juxtaposed
within the triangular configuration of the site, will engage the Tidal
Basin and frame views to the water.
Funding for the project
began on May 7, 2003 when the MLK Foundation successfully launched
the Build the Dream Ad Council advertising campaign on Capitol Hill
in Washington, DC. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) hosted
the event. “The time has come for Dr. King to take his rightful
place on our National Mall alongside so many other great Americans,”
Frist said. “We cannot forget that this country is a better
place because of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Since that time,
the MLK Dream Team has grown to include celebrities: Halle
Berry, Al Roker, Morgan Freeman, George Foreman, Woopie Goldberg, Tavis
Smiley, Jerry Stackhouse, Martin Sheen, Lionel Ritchie, Andrew Shue
and Elizabeth Shue. Yahoo is the premier Internet Sponsor.
The winning model and
location of the Martin Luther King Memorial Monument, itself, can be
viewed at www.buildthedream.org. |