WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en-US

00:00:03.590 --> 00:00:08.040
In order for us to continue to move forward
in striving for equity and striving for change,

00:00:08.040 --> 00:00:11.410
we have to be able to talk about our past,
in a way that's really meaningful. And the

00:00:11.410 --> 00:00:20.750
Memorial I think is a beautiful first step
in starting that conversation. It's intended

00:00:20.750 --> 00:00:25.350
to be a space for reflection and healing,
it's a space of truth-telling. We want folks

00:00:25.350 --> 00:00:31.380
to bring classes here, we want folks to engage
in that way. Slavery wasn't an experience

00:00:31.380 --> 00:00:35.880
that by any means should just be something
in our past that we say happened and we can't

00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:46.480
talk about it. We should help folks heal past
that trauma and past the brutality of it.

00:00:46.480 --> 00:00:50.890
The first thing design wise that greets you
when you come in the Memorial is this broken

00:00:50.890 --> 00:00:56.120
shackle image. It represents this freedom
from physical bondage. There's the path towards

00:00:56.120 --> 00:01:00.329
the North Star and that was the path towards
freedom. And then a second path that kind

00:01:00.329 --> 00:01:04.969
of aligns with the sunset on March 3, which
is Liberation and Freedom Day. It is 80 feet

00:01:04.969 --> 00:01:11.060
which matches the diameter of the Rotunda
taking up that space that is so rightly deserved

00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:16.719
in honoring this legacy. There is the timeline
of events that happened all the way through

00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:21.849
Isabella Gibbons death. Isabella Gibbons was
a member of the enslaved community and she

00:01:21.849 --> 00:01:27.450
really took it upon herself to encourage reflection
and encourage moving the needle towards equity

00:01:27.450 --> 00:01:33.060
and equality and so her eyes are on the back
of the Memorial. I would encourage everyone

00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:38.140
if they can, come witness it in person, feel
the stone, see the timeline, be here and be

00:01:38.140 --> 00:01:44.320
present and take a second to reflect, honor,
and encourage folks to move forward with that

00:01:44.320 --> 00:01:44.899
history.