The National Memorial For Peace And Justice opens in Montgomery,Alabama today. The monument, conceived by the Equal Justice Initiative, or intends to memorialize the more than 4000 known victims of lynching in this country. The project's precursor was a body of research collected by the E.
J.
I. which uncovered thousands of instances of lynchings that had not previously been documented. The research culminated in a 2015 report entitled "Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial terrorism," which unearthed incidents of hangings and other brutal measures of "racial terrorism" in twelve different states. Staff members of the Institute bear commemorated their work by visiting hundreds of sites of historical lynchings, collecting soil, and displaying public markers of where the murders occurred.Frazier B. Baker and his young daughter Julia were such two victims of a lynching.Dr. Fostenia Baker,Frazier’s grand-niece, recounts what happened to her family upon their arrival in Lake City, and South Carolina in 1898. The memorial sits atop six acres overlooking Alabama's capital. Various sculptures can be found throughout the site including "Guided By Justice," a sculpture by Oakland based artist, Dana King. The sculpture of three women represents participants of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. King explains how those women and their resistance connects to the memorial and to the continuing struggle for civil rights. Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment. Don't bear time to listen right now? Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, and TuneIn, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts to take this segment with you on the depart.
Want to comment on this fable? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page. Photographs from the memorial site can be found below, and courtesy of the Equal Justice Initiative:
(Human Pictures / Equal Justice Initiative)
(Human Pictures / Equal Justice Initiative)
(Human Pictures / Equal Justice Initiative)
(Human Pictures / Equal Justice Initiative)
(Human Pictures / Equal Justice Initiative)
Source: wnyc.org