This statue of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was unveiled in the Peace Plaza of the University of North Florida (UNF) campus on February 28, 2012. The 8-foot 6-inch bronze statue was sculpted by artist Jasu Shilpi of India, the same artist who created the statue of Mahatma Gandhi that was placed in Peace Plaza in 2006. According to UNF, this is the first statue of Dr. King to be placed on a Florida college campus.
The statue stands on an approximately 4-foot tall granite base that is inscribed on the front side with:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968
Nobel Peace Prize 1964
The remaining sides of the granite base have the following three quotes from Dr. King's speeches, sermons and writings:
- "We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."
- "Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus."
- "Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it."
The statue was purchased for $32,000 with funds raised through private donations and sponsored by UNF's Center for Intercultural Promotion, Education, and Advancement of Cultures and Ethnicities (PEACE).
The following information about Dr. King is from Wikipedia:
"Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King has become a national icon in the history of modern American liberalism.
A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.
In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and stopping the Vietnam War.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986."