The <a href="https://eji.org/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Equal Justice Initiative</a> opened the National Memorial for Peace and Justice on April 26 near its headquarters in Montgomery, Alabama. Visitors see Ghanaian artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo's sculpture when they walk into the memorial.
The Equal Justice Initiative opened the National Memorial for Peace and Justice on April 26 near its headquarters in Montgomery, Alabama. Visitors see Ghanaian artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo's sculpture when they walk into the memorial.
Human Pictures/Equal Justice Initiative
The memorial is located on a six-acre site overlooking Montgomery. The site includes a memorial square with 800 six-foot-tall monuments to symbolize the more than 4,400 racial terror lynching victims in the United States between 1877 and 1950.
The memorial is located on a six-acre site overlooking Montgomery. The site includes a memorial square with 800 six-foot-tall monuments to symbolize the more than 4,400 racial terror lynching victims in the United States between 1877 and 1950.
Human Pictures/Equal Justice Initiative
There are 800 steel monuments, one for each US county where a lynching occurred. The names of the lynching victims and dates of their deaths are included on the columns.
There are 800 steel monuments, one for each US county where a lynching occurred. The names of the lynching victims and dates of their deaths are included on the columns.
Human Pictures/Equal Justice Initiative
Lynching was intended "to terrorize communities of color," EJI founder Bryan Stevenson told CNN's Nia-Malika Henderson. "Sometimes they would leave the body hanging on a tree, and the family would come to claim it, and they wouldn't let them. It was the optic of this raised violence that made the threat, the menace, even more powerful."
Lynching was intended "to terrorize communities of color," EJI founder Bryan Stevenson told CNN's Nia-Malika Henderson. "Sometimes they would leave the body hanging on a tree, and the family would come to claim it, and they wouldn't let them. It was the optic of this raised violence that made the threat, the menace, even more powerful."
Channon Hodge/CNN
The nearby Legacy Museum documents the US history of slavery, lynching, segregation and mass incarceration.
The nearby Legacy Museum documents the US history of slavery, lynching, segregation and mass incarceration.
Human Pictures/Equal Justice Initiative
The museum is located on the site of a former warehouse where enslaved black people were imprisoned after being transported to Montgomery via the nearby river dock and train station.
The museum is located on the site of a former warehouse where enslaved black people were imprisoned after being transported to Montgomery via the nearby river dock and train station.
Human Pictures/Equal Justice Initiative
The museum documents America's painful history of racial injustice and its legacy -- from slavery to mass incarceration of African Americans.
The museum documents America's painful history of racial injustice and its legacy -- from slavery to mass incarceration of African Americans.
Equal Justice Initiative
The EJI's Community Remembrance Project is part of a campaign to recognize the victims of lynching by collecting soil from lynching sites. Jars of the soil with the names of victims are on display at the museum.
The EJI's Community Remembrance Project is part of a campaign to recognize the victims of lynching by collecting soil from lynching sites. Jars of the soil with the names of victims are on display at the museum.
Human Pictures/Equal Justice Initiative
"We want people to see the pain. We want them to see the suffering. We want them to see the anguish," Stevenson says. "But we also want them to see the humanity, and the strength, and the dignity and the capacity to endure."
"We want people to see the pain. We want them to see the suffering. We want them to see the anguish," Stevenson says. "But we also want them to see the humanity, and the strength, and the dignity and the capacity to endure."
Channon Hodge/CNN