(Photo: REUTERS) The Rev. Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Today marked the Martin Luther King Memorial dedication in Washington, DC. The Martin Luther King Jr memorial is the first monument of a person of color in the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The dedication was a day of celebration and reflecting on a man who fought for civil rights to his death in 1968.

According to the MSNBC.com, the dedication was originally scheduled to coincide with the 48th anniversary of King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech; the Aug. 28 event was projected to draw as many as 250,000 people. Due to Hurricane Irene the dedication was rescheduled for October 16, 2011.

The event was attended by Aretha Franklin who sang Martin Luther King’s favorite song “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”, Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Crowe, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Civil rights activist Andrew Young, Journalist Dan Rather and many more paid tribute to Martin Luther King. Live coverage of the dedication was shown on Black Entertainment Television and TV One channel.

According to CBS News.com, President Obama stated, “In this place he will stand for all time among monuments of those who fathered this nation and those who defended it. “A black preacher, no official rank or title, who somehow gave voice to our deepest dreams and our most lasting ideas – a man who stirred our conscience and thereby helped make our union more perfect.”

The monument located in the National Mall between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorial was 15 years in the making. Ironically, no one could have predicted that the nation’s first black president would dedicate the monument. Making the dedication an historical event and commemorating Martin Luther King’s dream. –Associated Press

Thousands attend the historic event in celebration of the dream Dr. Martin Luther King Jr envisioned. The event ended with Stevie Wonder singing the song he used to form a national holiday on Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday “Happy Birthday To You” and the full clip of King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” played in its entirety. The speech echoed across the National Park, the same spot where Martin Luther King Jr did he speech in 1963. Words that resonated the same hope 48 years ago. The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial is officially open to the public. For more information about the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial visit http://www.mlkmemorial.org/ and http://twitter.com/#!/list/S_Maben/media-outlets-journalists for media coverage on the dedication.

People who did not attend the event expressed their thoughts and feelings on the social network Twitter. The MLK dedication trended on Twitter’s timeline worldwide using the hashtag #MLKMemorial and #MLKDedication. Many individuals tweeted about the historic event and how they felt about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.