The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL

 Part 3 of 3

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice".
 ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

The first of the three EJI Legacy Sites we visited in Montgomery, AL was The National Memorial for Peace and Justice. This site was particularly powerful and overwhelming as huge steel markers show the state and county, along with the lynched. At first you walk through them. Then, as you go downhill, they are higher and above your head. There is something to craning one's neck to read the counties that wasn't lost on me. It was a humbling experience. As one looks for counties, one hopes to not find those one has lived in or currently lives in. But I knew Whitfield county, GA was there. I didn't know about Hamilton county, TN, but it was there too. 

After walking through these, there is another set of the markers laying flat on the ground. They are a bit easier to read that way, though they look like grave covers in that position, akin to the ones I have seen made of marble in South Georgia at the church cemetery where many of my ancestors are buried.

After making one's way through these, there are some statues and then replica markers.

As you make your way back to the beginning, there is much to contemplate. 

Near the entrance/exit, there are other statues and writings to read and absorb.

The educational offering is unlike anything I have experienced, though the Holocaust museum in Israel, Yad Vashem, comes close. That place was a huge educational experience for me too-- powerful, humbling, haunting.... Just like The National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

It isn't easy to see all those markers. It isn't easy to realize how horrible our society treated people. 

But it is important to know the true history, to honor lives taken, and to seek reparative justice.

I included a link for The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in the first paragraph.

Here are some other links with information:

• Mass Group (the group that designed the Memorial)
• U.S. Civil Rights Trail
• Video from Smart History (also below)
• NPR article/recording
• NY Times article

Here are my photos:

Here are two photos taken by our group leader that show me looking up at the Whitfield county marker:

I highly recommend a trip to Montgomery, AL to see The Legacy Sites. There is so much to see, learn, experience.... so much that I didn't hear or learn growing up. 

It's time to bring peace, justice, and healing to our society. This trip was a part of me doing so on the journey.

Deb

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The other two posts in this series:

• The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, AL
• The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, AL

The Whitfield Remembrance Project:

• Whitfield Remembrance Project (Facebook)
• Whitfield Remembrance Project (Website)