My readership is less than half American these days, so a primer: one of the U.S.'s founding fathers and first presidents, Thomas Jefferson, wrote our Declaration of Independence and was undoubtedly the most important mind this nation has ever produced. Although he opposed slavery, he owned slaves and even impregnated at least one, which causes angst here. We want to lionize him, but then there's that nagging, inconvenient "but."
My favorite walk in Washington D.C. starts at the Jefferson memorial. That beautiful open-air marble dome, that view abutting the Potomac, cannot be bettered, and now it has a wondrous view of the King memorial reflecting across the water. From there I head north along the Potomac's bank, a lovely, tree-lined route recently featured in the opening scenes of The Winter Soldier. It winds through the understated but lovely Roosevelt memorial and stops at the spectacular new King memorial, a few hundred meters from where he gave his most famous speech.
Some have criticized the King memorial for how angry he looks, but I am not among them. He looks stern. It works.
What I didn't expect was a delightful bit of positioning. If you follow MLK's eyeline, he's glaring across the water at Jefferson for all eternity.
