The community is invited to support an effort to build monuments to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and local leaders in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. Sharon and Mack Brown are the founders of the Unified Civic Monuments Project and co-directors of the African-American History and Literature Gallery. Sharon Brown tells WSJM News the two spent years in California, and when they returned to Benton Harbor, they noticed it was lacking something.
“Life, activity, hope, art,” Brown said. “All of these things can just happen in a lot of cities just by coming out of the house.”
Over time, they thought about how they could bring some of those things to the area. Eventually, the monuments project was born with support from the Krasl Art Center and Lake Michigan College. They’re raising funds to build monuments to MLK and also a monument to a local leader in each city. Sharon told us what she envisions for the spots.
“An engaging area where an exchange can happen, where educators can come, where families can come, or visitors to the Twin Cities can come and known that we have an icon of a place.”
The initial fundraising target is $850,000, but Sharon says it could go up to $1 million. Residents of both cities are being surveyed now to determine where the monuments should be installed, and more information on the timeline will be announced next month. You can find out more at UnifiedMonuments.org.
