The EJI has continued to expand its footprint across downtown Montgomery.
Six years after the Equal Justice Initiative opened its groundbreaking National Memorial for Peace and Justice and its Legacy Museum on the same day, the organization is expanding its footprint in Montgomery with projects that are bringing tourists and construction crews to stagnant pockets of the old downtown.on the Alabama River, a trail of art and exhibits that describe the experiences faced by the men, women, and children trafficked by riverboat and railroad to the city’s slave auctions.
“I’m never any less impacted by how profound the story of African Americans in this country are told by this museum,” Tarrant said.Two hotels are under construction behind the EJI's Legacy Museum, an indication of the impact the EJI is having on tourism in Montgomery.which opened in 2022 to give people a place to sit in the shade or stroll by the sights and enjoy the views of downtown, including new statues of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.
“We can get several hundred people in there and provide a meal in the middle of the day and do all the things that allow a successful meeting to take place over the course of a day or two,” EJI Executive Director Bryan Stevenson said. “We had all of these markers and monuments and streets and schools and statues dedicated to leaders of the Confederacy,” Stevenson said. “And I didn’t think it was accurate to talk about that period in Alabama history and American history without acknowledging the role of slavery and the burden of enslavement for so many people.”
Visitors board a bus at the Equal Justice Initiative's Legacy Museum in Montgomery. In the background are two hotels under construction, the yellow and black structures.Stevenson said the original museum had limited capacity, so some visitors who came for the day did not get in. That led to the new museum, which has more capacity and content.
Bronner said he has only talked to Stevenson once or twice and told him there is so much to see in the exhibits that it is hard to take them all in.Bronner said the EJI projects amount to reclamations of three areas of downtown and said they complement the RSA’s developments, as well as the establishment of Montgomery Whitewater, a park for rafting and outdoor recreation that was supported by the city of Montgomery and the Montgomery County Commission.
“You’ve just got to make Montgomery for law enforcement salary-wise and staffing-wise as good as there is in the state,” Bronner said. “If you’re going to keep tourism to the level that tourists want to come, they have to feel safe.”Lee Sentell, director of Alabama Tourism Department since Gov. Bob Riley’s administration, said the quality and scope of EJI’s projects is hard to match.
“If we’re going to grow into the country that’s better than we are it requires everybody’s participation and work together, and knowing the past is part of that,” Lonas said.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
More law enforcement help for City of Montgomery on the agenda of Montgomery County CommissionMontgomery, Alabama
Read more »
‘Mr. Las Vegas’ will be ‘Mr. Montgomery, Alabama’ for one night in JulyWayne Newton will be at the Performing Arts Centre July 21, 2024.
Read more »
Montgomery mayor taps Alabama law enforcement veterans for police leadership rolesJim Graboys of ALEA was named interim police chief and former Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste as special public safety advisor.
Read more »
Hispanic businesses in Montgomery, Alabama, feeling 'hunted' and afraid after triple-slayingAntonio Planas is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
Read more »
Florida State and Auburn to meet for NCAA men's golf titleMontgomery, Alabama
Read more »
ACTION 8 UPDATE: Reward rises to $5,000 to help solve murder of Montgomery womanMontgomery, Alabama
Read more »