The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
There’s a new portrait hanging among the presidents in the Township Council chambers, that of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The portrait was unveiled at the beginning of the Jan. 7 Township Council meeting. Officiating were Council members Rajiv Prasad and Kimberly Francois, both D-At Large; Mayor Brian Levine, R; Paul Curry from the Franklin Democratic Club; Jim Hunter, founder of the New Jersey Orators and Somerset resident John Tibbs.
Township manager Bob Vornlocker said Prasad was the driving force behind getting the portrait, which was no easy task.
The problem, Vornlocker said, is that there are not many color photographs of King.
“we searched high and low around teh country for a photograph suitable for framing and hanging in the courtroom,” he said.
“When we couldn’tfind one, Councilman Prasad found an artist to do a rendering. That’s not a photo, it’s a piece of art.”
Vornlocker said Prasad paid for th epainting himself.
Prasad said the King was one of his role models when he came to the United States.
The painting, Prasad said, was done by East Brunswick artist Harold Shull.
