BLACK LIVES MATTER | MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA

ALABAMA STRANGE FRUIT

THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

The memorial´s subject is dark. It is dedicated to the victims of lynching, but has a bigger aim: the American public shall understand that the history of slavery, lynching and segregation still affects their society.

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY TANJA SCHULT

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened in Montgomery, Alabama, in April 2018. The Museum is a milestone in American memory culture. Its ambition to transform the American consciousness is clearly reflected in the memorial’s exceptional design and pedagogical concept. Next to the pavilion-structure – consisting of 805 stelae, duplicates are waiting to be claimed by the counties in which lynching’s were committed. The future dissolution of the duplicates, leading to the erection of singular memorial markers in places near and far throughout the States, is an invitation to the American nation to participate in this commemoration project.

The permanent memorial and its take-away twin anticipate a commemoration process yet to come, and envisions an altered national identity based on the acknowledgement of the history of racial violence in the US. 300 counties have already announced their interest to erect the stela that commemorates the lynching’s once committed in their communities.

STRANGE FRUIT Visitors encounter the stelae on eye level. The names of the victims are easily readable and visitors are allowed to touch them. This creates an intimate relationship with the work. In their shape, the stelae remind us of headstones – a pointed reference considering that lynching victims were rarely given a proper funeral or gravesite.

As you walk on, the floor descends, slowly the stelae rise. Some may recall Billy Holliday’s Strange Fruit from 1939, written after having seen photographs of lynching victims.

The haunting and overwhelming atmosphere of the hanging stelae reminds us that these acts of terrorism happened in the open; corpses were left to rot so that they intimidated and threatened people of color, and encouraged whites to act against them without fear of punishment.

THE TAKE AWAY TWIN Positioned on the ground, the stelae remind us of coffins rather than headstones, but when claimed and erected in an upright position, in hundreds of counties throughout the US, these physical markers will make a statement— to perform a common commitment to remember the crimes as an important part of national identity. This unique monument concept acknowledges that no single monument alone can achieve a comprehensive change of a nation’s memory culture. Such a transformation demands action – of individuals, organizations, and governments, far beyond Alabama, a readiness to rethink established narratives and alter attitudes by erecting visible markers in public space.

The memorial in Montgomery is not the endpoint but the beginning – of necessary dialogues and confrontations of a shameful and painful past that still holds its grip on American society. Lynching took place almost all over the United States. Thus, it is only logical that a project, that demands a whole nation to come to terms with its shameful past, asks all its communities to get engaged. The monument’s double existence and the duplicate’s interactive component is therefore of utmost importance, and it is its future dispersal that is the most interesting aspect of this memorial ensemble.

SCULPTURES AROUND THE PERMANENT MEMORIAL Several figurative sculptures accompany the main monument. The first is a vivid and dramatic interpretation of slavery, executed by Ghanaian artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo.

Dana King’s Guided by Justice (2018) commemorates the resilience of women displayed during the 13-monthlong-Montgomery-bus-boycott in 1955-1956. The depicted represent women of different ages, the youngest pregnant, one clearly marked by age. If one joins the women, steps onto the footprints on the ground, one faces the field of stelae, and it seems as if they say: “Get this done!” Instead of being overwhelmed by despair in the face of the memory work waiting, one is energized by their determination, and encouraged to continue their non-violent struggle.

Dana King’s sculpture group ties on to the footsteps on the asphalt close to the Alabama State Capitol commemorating the 25,000 people who walked the 54-mile-long civil rights protest march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.

Hank Willis Thomas’ Raise Up can be read as a reflection of ongoing police brutality against African Americans. 10 pairs of arms grasping air. The men have closed

300 Counties in the US will erect identical memorial stones. May we never forget the atrocities of these lynchings.

Rosa Parks has a seat up front at the National Memorial AMERICAN TRAILS SUMMER | 2021For Peace and Justice.

Ghana artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo’s realism interpretation on slavery- it’s moving, it’s powerful. Highlighted means a word change, please replace the word in the text to the highlighted word here in this edits guide

Nothing in these works leaves a visitor untouched, unmoved.

HANK WILLIS THOMAS’ RAISE UP CAN BE READ AS A REFLECTION OF ONGOING POLICE

BRUTALITY AGAINST AFRICAN AMERICANS. 10 PAIRS OF ARMS GRASPING AIR. THE MEN

HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES. SOME OF THE HEADS ARE SUNKEN INTO THE CONCRETE

WALL, EXPRESSING THE FAINTNESS ESPECIALLY BLACK MEN ARE EXPOSED TO IN POLICE CONTROLS AND THE ARBITRARINESS OF THE JURIDICAL SYSTEM.

their eyes. Some of the heads are sunken into the concrete wall, expressing the faintness especially black men are exposed to in police controls and the arbitrariness of the juridical system. Against the city’s silhouette with its complex history and being the last sculpture of this monument landscape, the title Raise Up seems to turn directly to appeal to the visitors to continue the struggle for justice.

THE MASTER MIND The Master mind behind the memorial is Bryan Stevenson, the great-grandson of slaves from Virginia, a Harvard law absolvent and highly acclaimed human rights activist. Stevenson is decorated with many prizes, among others the Olof Palme International Human Rights Award. In 1989, Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit law-organization, located in Montgomery. During the last 30 years, Stevenson and the EJI have provided legal representation to illegal convicted or unfairly sentenced persons, challenged death penalty and aided formerly incarcerated people. To a Scandinavian audience, his work is known through the HBO-documentary True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality, which followed his 2014 best-selling book Just Mercy. A Story of Justice and Redemption. Soon, a feature film based on this story, starring Michael B. Jordan, comes to the cinemas worldwide.