Why it matters: The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park and National Monument to Freedom will become the closest the U.S. has to a national monument to the victims of enslavement.
- It comes as some states in recent years have passed bills limiting the discussion of slaveryin public schools.
Zoom in: Advocacy group Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) announced the project — which will be part of its Legacy Sites — will open Wednesday after years of planning.
The National Monument to Freedom, standing 43 feet tall and 155 feet long, sits at the end of the Sculpture Park.
- It uses research from the 1870 Census —the first time formerly enslaved Black people were able to formally record a surname —to list over 122,000 surnames that nearly five million Black people adopted at the time.
What they’re saying: “I believe this will become a special place for millions of people who want to reckon with the history of slavery and honor the lives of people who endured tremendous hardship but still found ways to love in the midst of sorrow,” EJI founder Bryan Stevenson said in a statement.
Zoom out: Freedom Monument Sculpture Park and National Monument to Freedom will be part of EJI’s Legacy Sites, which currently include The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery.
- The Legacy Museum — located on a site where enslaved people once were sold — features holograms, interactive videos and artifacts connected to the history of enslavement and mass incarceration.
Between the lines: New museums dedicated to Black history have recently opened in Washington, DC, and South Carolina.