The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) announced the construction of the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, a new 17-acre site in Montgomery. Opening early 2024, the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park will feature large-scale sculptures, art works, historical artifacts, and a new National Monument honoring enslaved people who were emancipated after the Civil War.
The Freedom Sculpture Park will join the EJI’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice to form the legacy sites. These sites will provide a space for education, discussion and reflection on our nation’s history.
“We want to create a space that centers the lives of enslaved people and allows all Americans to learn about the history of slavery,” said Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the EJI. “We think this is important for having a more honest, rooted understanding of our past, which is key to building the kind of just and hopeful future healthy future that many of us want to see.”
The highlight of the park will be the National Monument to Freedom, a 150-foot long structure that honors all four million former slaves in the U.S. More than 100,000 names representing millions of Black families are engraved here, offering a space to recognize the courageous survivors of this horrific era.
“This monument will present these names and create an opportunity for all Americans to acknowledge the labor, the suffering, the struggle and the contributions of millions of enslaved people who helped build this country. The people who made a commitment to citizenship, and to a kind of healthy future that we've yet to achieve, but we continue to fight for.”
On the banks of the Alabama River, where tens of thousands of enslaved Black people were trafficked by boat and rail, Freedom Monument Sculpture Park creates an immersive experience in a historically significant physical space where visitors can deepen their knowledge and understanding of history, the power of art, and the importance of justice.
For more information about the EJI’s Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, visit their website.