The Ripple Effects - Martin Luther King Jr . & Coretta Scott King Memorial , Boston
Wodiczko , Bonder , Thompson & Wood
The project , designed as a living memorial , has embraced the historic and unique task of creating a monument not to a single hero but to a partnership of two extraordinary people . The proposal for the Boston Common embeds this dual monument in a deep history of activism , signaled by the memorial to Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry , and to carry that meaning and purpose into the future . This project proposes to both celebrate Martin Luther King & Coretta Scott King – their lives and accomplishments – as well as to invite present and future generations to see themselves as catalysts for an ongoing process of emancipation and transformation . The site organized by a mound on the east side and the Beacon Towers , on the west . They symbolize the continuing presence and inspiration of the Kings ’ leadership , while at the same time – through the sound of specially designed bells and the pulses of light-monitoring – they continually inform visitors on current state of the emancipation process , globally , nationally , and in Boston .
This new public space and forum for engagement is created in order to inspire learning , dialogue , and activism now and later . It is not only a symbolic ground for public assembly , for civic celebrations , for cultural activity , individual and group reflection and discussion but also a socially engaging interactive environment , which – as an affirmation of life , love , fellowship and community – will embody a welcoming message , in and from Boston , for generations to come .
Links
Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery , Nantes - Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery : https :// memorial . nantes . fr / en /
Unearthing Traces of Rhode Island ’ s Slavery and Slave Trade - design studios : https :// www . acsa-arch . org / wp-content / uploads / 2019 / 08 / 2015-16-Unearthing-Traces-of-RIs-Slavery-and-Slave-Trade-DP-Winner-Submission . pdf
Citizen ’ s Voice : Julian Bonder- EUROM : https :// europeanmemories . net / videos / interview-julian-bonder-architect-and-professor-at-roger-williams-university-usa /
Radcliffe Institute Conference , Universities and Slavery : Bound By History - Universities and Slavery : https :// www . radcliffe . harvard . edu / news / radcliffe-magazine / bound-history-universities-and-slavery
Symbolic Reparations - Symbolic Reparations Research Project : https :// symbolicreparations . org /
References
Lefort , Claude . 1988 . “ The Question of Democracy .” In Democracy and Political Theory , trans . David Macey , Minneapolis , MN : University of Minnesota Press . 9 – 20 .
Young , James . 1993 . The Texture of Memory . New Haven , CT : Yale University Press .
Huyssen , Andreas , 2003 . Present Pasts : Urban Palimpsests and the Politics of Memory . Stanford , CA : Stanford University Press .
Lévinas , Emmanuel . 1997 . Difficult Freedom : Essays on Judaism , Seán Hand , trans . Baltimore , MD : Johns Hopkins University Press .
Davis , Colin . 1997 . Lévinas : An Introduction . Notre Dame , IN . University of Notre Dame Press .
DeKoven Ezrahi , Sidra . 2000 . Booking Passage , Exile and Homecoming in the Jewish Modern Imagination Berkeley : U . of California Press .
Baldwin , James . 1963 . The Fire Next Time . Dial Press
Baird , George , 1995 . “ The Space of Appearance ” – MIT Press - A discussion on Hannah Arendt and Public Space / Public Life overview
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