Freedom Monument Sculpture Park honors lives of enslaved people
Photo: Courtesy of Equal Justice Initiative
For civil rights attorney and renowned social justice activist Bryan Stevenson, it’s not enough to know the history of slavery and the centuries-old struggles of Black people in America. He wants people to see it. Feel it. Touch it.
The park commemorates the more than 10 million people who were enslaved in America.
Photo: Courtesy of Equal Justice Initiative
A new park in Montgomery, Alabama, was conceived to do just that, as visitors of the breathtaking Freedom Monument Sculpture Park will be treated to “an immersive experience” along 17 acres above the Alabama River, which was a primary route to transport enslaved Africans during the slave trade.
Photo: Courtesy of Equal Justice Initiative/Human Pictures
The park, opening next week, will be in close proximity to two other creations led by Stevenson: the awe-inspiring Memorial to Peace and Justice, an open-air site that features 800 columns suspended from above, evoking public square lynchings, and the Legacy Museum. A few miles away in downtown Montgomery, that site uses interactive elements to tell the story of the devastation of slavery, Jim Crow, violence and mass incarceration.
From left: Three Sisters, by Cliff Fragua and a "dwelling" structure at Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama . Photo: From Left: Bryan G. Stevenson/Courtesy of Equal Justice Initiative/Human Pictures; Juan Carlos Castaneda-Castersonic/Courtesy of Equal Justice Initiative/Human Pictures
Located at 831 Walker Street, the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park will be part of the Equality Justice Institute’s Legacy Sites, which also include The Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, both which opened in 2018. A $5 admission includes all three parks and a free shuttle runs between the sites.
As the center of the Civil Rights Movement, Montgomery is also home to other Black heritage sites, like the Rosa Parks Museum, Civil Rights Memorial Center, Anarcha, Lucy, Betsey Monument, Dexter Avenue King Baptist Memorial Church, Freedom Rides Museum, and Dr. Richard Harris House.
Source: NBC News, Travel + Leisure
Visit www.attawellsummer.com/forthosebefore to learn more about Black history.
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