The centerpiece for the memorial is based on a line from King 's " I Have A Dream " speech : " Out of the mountain of despair , a stone of hope . " A - high relief of King named the '' Stone of Hope '' stands past two other pieces of granite that symbolize the " mountain of despair . " Visitors figuratively " pass through " the Mountain of Despair on the way to the '' Stone of Hope '' , symbolically " moving through the struggle as Dr. King did during his life . " A - long inscription wall includes excerpts from many of King 's sermons and speeches . On this crescent-shaped granite wall , fourteen of King 's quotes are inscribed , the earliest from the time of the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama , and the latest from his final sermon , delivered in 1968 at Washington , D.C. 's National Cathedral , just four days before his assassination
assassination
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial