Tuesday, May 22, 2018

The National Peace and Justice Memorial - Part I

I recently toured the newly opened National Peace and Justice Memorial ( informally known as the Lynching Memorial) in Montgomery AL. "This is the nation's first memorial dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people, people  terrorized by lynching, African Americans humiliated by racial segregation and Jim Crow, people of color burdened with contemporary presumptions of guilt and police violence."

The memorial is a powerful reminder of our nation's history and extremely emotional experience. As I reviewed my hundreds of images last night, I realized that picking and choosing photos to post here and on social media would not convey the feeling of the memorial and do it justice. For the coming week, I will post collections of photographs in order to give my readers a stronger sense of actually being in that space.

As one enters the park, the concrete figures by artist Kwome Akoto-Bamfo, depicting the journey of slavery is absolutely heart wrenching.









2 comments:

William Kendall said...

Heart wrenching indeed. Very powerful, as it must be.

Dina said...

Oh. Lord have mercy.
Thank you for introducing us to this necessary place, Virginia.
But I won't plan a visit, just like I feel I'd not survive a visit to Europe's former concentration camps.