Coming to Benton Harbor and St. Joseph next month for the unveiling of new monuments to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be Martin Luther King III.

Unified Civic Monuments Project founder Sharon Brown tells us the eldest son of the legendary civil rights leader will take part in the celebration of the three-yearslong effort now that it’s finished. She led the campaign to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to build the MLK monuments in the Margaret B. Upton Arboretum and Dwight P. Mitchell City Center Park.

How does it feel to see the project come to fruition?

“We have all these different sayings and cliches, and it says, ‘Somebody pinch me, make sure I’m real in this. It’s real and I’m real,’” Brown said. “That’s kind of, I think, what humanly I’m feeling right now.”

Brown says she was able to secure a visit by MLK III by contacting other venues where he’s spoken. She says he’ll come to Benton Harbor on November 18 to meet with pastors, and then be a part of the monument celebrations all day on the 19th.

“Not only is he going to have an evening here in our Twin Cities, he’s going to help us to unveil these monuments in memory of his dad’s legacy, but he’s also speaking at LMC that afternoon.”

Everything will start at 10:30 a.m. on November 19 will the unveiling of the St. Joseph monument. They’ll then march to the Benton Harbor monument for the second unveiling. King’s speech at Lake Michigan College will be at 1:30 and is open to everyone.

Brown says she hopes the monuments the community has built will be the sites of much reflection and education for generations to come.

Photo: the MLK monument in downtown Benton Harbor, now under construction.