By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
Hundreds gathered in the early hours for the Equal Justice Initiative’s dedication of the National Monument to Freedom at the newly-opened Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery on Juneteenth.
The 17-acre site displays a combination of contemporary artwork, first- person narratives, and historical artifacts that tell the stories of more than 10 million Black people who were enslaved on American soil.
The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park is the latest addition to EJI’s existing legacy sites – the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum.
EJI founder and director Bryan Stevenson encouraged people to speak “honestly” about the country’s history.
“I think a lot of people … are afraid or unwilling to be courageous enough to talk honestly. I learned in so many other areas, if you are the victim of abuse, you are not going to overcome that if you never talk about it … a path to healing is a path that requires that we talk honestly.
“We have to be willing to acknowledge the harm, the wrong doing, the pain, and the suffering and then begin to take those steps that allow us to repair to get to that place to achieve truth in reconciliation, truth in restoration , and truth in repair,” said Stevenson.
The art collection at the Sculpture Park works in tandem with historical artifacts to dramatize the brutality of slavery while simultaneously illuminating the strength, dignity, and power of enslaved people and their descendants.
The main attraction of the park is the nearly four-story, 43-foot-tall, National Monument to Freedom, that lists 122,000 surnames of nearly five million Black people listed in the U.S. Census.
“I want everybody to feel like this is a place they should come. No matter what your ethnicity, whether your native born or an immigrant. We want everyone to come to learn this history and I hope we can encourage people to find the courage to do the truth telling,” said Stevenson.
For more information, visit eji.org or email at legacysites@eji.org
