“We Can’t Recover from This History Until We Deal With It”

Bryan Stevenson is famous for his Legacy Museum and Memorial that document the history of slavery at an emotional level, not a cerebral one. These two testimonials were my most memorable experience on the Civil Rights Freedom Ride Experience in Alabama in June.

The Legacy Memorial came first, reflecting Bryan Stevenson’s passion about the history of lynching in our country. After the

Civil War, the white south found other means than slavery to terrorize and oppress black people, keeping them subservient to the white men in power. The KKK, Ku Klux Klan, created fear in black people by terrorizing individuals and, especially, by lynching them. This was the environment that led to the great migration in the early 1900’s.

The 2:53 minute video at this website defines the purpose of the Memorial:

https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/memorial

The Legacy Museum documents the history of slavery and its descendents; terror, lynching, segregation, prison labor, mass incarceration, disenfranchisement, migration, and economic discrimination. This 3:34 minute video gives an overview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEXTR5rOpDI&t=27s

Bryan Stevenson is a gripping narrator for this story. This 6:13 minute video is a good summary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRJX5jvORzQ

Until you can visit Montgomery, Alabama in person, these videos will wake you to the weight of our history of slavery.

Submitted by Teresa Wilmot