The National Memorial for Peace and Justice
Equal Justice Initiative (EJI)
417 Caroline Street
Montgomery, Alabama
The memorial structure on the center of the site is constructed of over 800 corten steel monuments, one for each county in the United States where a racial terror lynching took place. The names of the lynching victims are engraved on the columns. The memorial is more than a static monument. In the six-acre park surrounding the memorial is a field of identical monuments, waiting to be claimed and installed in the counties they represent. Over time, the national memorial will serve as a report on which parts of the country have confronted the truth of this terror and which have not.
EJI is inviting counties across the country to claim their monuments and install them in their permanent homes in the counties they represent. Eventually, this process will change the built environment of the Deep South and beyond to more honestly reflect our history. EJI staff are already in conversation with dozens of communities seeking to claim their monuments. EJI approaches these conversations — and all of our community education work — with thought and care. EJI shares historical and educational material with community members, encourages participation from communities of color, and works with partners to find an appropriate geographic location for each monument to ensure that the process of claiming monuments helps local communities engage with this history in a constructive and meaningful way.
The Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit organization led by civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. (eji.org)
Sculpture by Kwame Akoto-Bamfo