The National Memorial for Peace and Justice — Attraction in Montgomery

How do you even write about a place as powerful as this? It's well thought out, well laid out, absolutely beautiful and deeply sorrowful. It's a must-see for every American.

I went during Covid in August, when the memorial was open and the gift shop and theater across the street but not the legacy museum. I had to get a ticket to enter in the gift shop (or I think you can do it online) but it is free to enter. You pass through security and start up a gradual slope past informational signs (of which you need to read every single one) and there's a group of statues on this first slope of a family/group of African slaves. At the top is a covered pavilion with metal boxes that list every county in the US where lynchings have occurred.

At first, I found myself looking for states and counties I was familiar with but as you spiral through the space, the walkway slopes down while the memorials stay level so that you are forced to look at the names themselves. You naturally start to take your attention off yourself and onto the victims. As you spiral down, be sure to read all of the signs that highlight what some of the victims were lynched for. What got me are the crowds for some of them--up to 10-15 THOUSAND people would attend a lynching.

In the bottom-most part, there is a water wall to commemorate all victims that go undocumented. There are steps here and it's a good place to pause and reflect. Exiting the pavilion is a courtyard where all the memorial boxes are placed in rows so you can more easily find your area (because at some point, some of the memorials are too high above you to read) then you circle around past more sculpture and back to the entrance (and a restroom.)

Next to the entrance is a little colorful garden. I found it really helpful to walk around the color and the life after the heaviness of the memorial experience.

Across the street, there is a theater showing short films from the currently closed museum. If you sit through all of them, it's a little more than an hour. (And it's a welcome break from the Alabama heat.)

Currently (started July 21, 2020) you can also visit the memorial at night, Wed-Fri, 9-11. All the signs and statues are well lit and they even give you a little finger light (that you can keep!) to help you look around. The lighting at night is amazing. It illuminates the individual boxes so that the names of the victims glow from within. And overall the effect is almost magical. I recommend going during the day to make sure you can see everything, but a second pass at night is highly...

I could not bring myself to write of my deep feelings after visiting this unique, beautiful memorial (at least two months ago). We are an older couple from northeast Tennessee and my husband, Joe saw a blurb about this new museum so he asked me if I’d like to take a three day trip to Alabama. Since I have a neural-muscular disorder, he assured me we would take my electric wheelchair so I would not have to be on my feet for too long. It was an exciting opportunity for us that he knew would mean a lot to me. Please let me tell you why it meant so much to me...I used to be a little three year old “white” girl. Did that get your attention?🧐At that time, my mama moved my 7 year old brother and Me down to Roanoke,Va. from New York City. It was my first real train trip (other than the N. Y. T. subways). Now, up to then, no one had made an issue about the tone of my skin or the tone of. another person’s skin. However, I’d like to relate a significant event in my young life that changed the innocence and ignorance.. We were in a W.T. Grant store shopping and since I was thirsty I asked mama if I could get a drink from the water fountain. There was a little paint chipped stool for the little ones to stand on so they could reach. As I was about to drink, an old “white” man’s voice boomed at me: GET DOWN FROM THERE!!DON’T YOU KNOW THAT’S A 😤🤬😡😖😭😱🥶😨😬🤢🤮😷🤐☠️ ‘S WATER FOUNTAIN?! ..Frightened and intimidated, I ran to my mama in tears. That experience would be the start of my education in racial discrimination. When the integration of my elementary school occurred, I saw it as a chance to make new friends to study and learn with as well as to make these fellow students feel welcome. Had no idea how hard their lives might be with the realities they may have faced every day of their lives. We walked to school together talked and laughed..but we did not talk about the evil that had been done to their race. Our news media at the time told us very little. Our school curriculum taught us next to nothing about racial disparity. But I was determined to educate myself throughout the coming decades and this amazing memorial was well worth my 67 year old “little white girl” tears. Love to my fellow humans of all races..and thanks...

I am so glad that a memorial dedicated to lynching victims was made and even more grateful to be able to visit. I went this past weekend with my boyfriend and had a very impactful time.

We first walked over here after buying tickets at the Legacy Museum first. When you first walk in, you read about slavery and there are a few statues of African slaves in chains.

Then as you ascend, you enter the memorial and you read the names and dates of lynching victims and the counties and states that the incidents occurred. It's one of those things that you knew happened, but when you are actually there and see the seemingly never-ending display of names, it becomes very, very real.

You see how many people were lynched on the same day and how whole families were lynched. When you go, be sure to pay attention to the dates, because you can see how many people died on the same day or even how lynchings occurred every day for weeks at a time. As you explore, you see how even in "liberal" states that people were still lynched.

Then as you descend, there is a wall of placards where you can read the reasons that people were lynched, for trivial things like "standing around," attempting to vote, asking for water and for being upset that someone else was lynched.

Once you leave the exhibit and go back outside, there is a lady there who gives you water for free which was nice since it was really hot out. Then you can see all of the monuments that were hanging are now laid flat for you to view again.

A very impactful experience that everyone should view to really understand our most painful aspects of...