The Montgomery, Alabama church where Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 27, 1957 spoke these words…

Almost out of nowhere I heard a voice that morning saying to me, “Preach the gospel, stand up for truth, stand up for righteousness. Since that morning I can stand up without fear.

So I am not afraid of anybody this morning. Tell Montgomery they can keep shooting and I’m going to stand up to them; tell Montgomery they can keep bombing and I’m going to stand up to them. If I had to die tomorrow morning I will die happy because I’ve been to the mountain top and I’ve seen the promised land and it’s going to be here in Montgomery.

is reflected in a newly constructed state of Alabama building on whose grounds are these words…

Equality and Rights of Men.

That all men are equally free and independent; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. - Article I, Section I of the 1901 Alabama State Constitution

and forms a merge of not only two centuries of architecture, but two centuries of inequality. It is my hope the words chosen to be engraved in the stone of the new building, are also, finally, engraved in the hearts of all our citizens.