Nkyinkyim by Kwame Akoto-Bamfo The Memorial is organized in three different sections. The first section is the lead up to the monument which begins to tell the tale of the beginning of the lives of African Americans through the demonstration of the racial terror evoked in the Middle Passage. Visitors first encounter a sculpture by Ghanaian artist
Kwame Akoto-Bamfo entitled
Nkyinkyim, meaning "twisted", a term referring to a Ghanaian proverb, "life is a twisted journey". The sculpture, seven shackled figures of all ages and genders interlocked together, is part of larger project Akoto-Bamfo began in Accra, Ghana where he creates clay busts of formerly enslaved people in an attempt to preserve their memories and livelihood, a common tradition practiced by the
Akan people in Ghana. In the Middle Passage, people were stripped of their African identity through the loss of names, ethnic identity, families, and more. The Nkyinkyim sculptures include description and details of each shackled person portrayed; Akoto-Bamfo's sculptures aim to return these identities symbolically, giving them backgrounds ranging from “Daughter of a Royal” to “Uncle’s Brother” to “The Lost Guardian”.
Guided by Justice by Dana King American artist
Dana King's
Guided by Justice is a rendering of the
Montgomery Bus Boycott during the
Civil Rights Movement. It depicts three women: a grandmother, a teacher, and a pregnant woman. There are footprints on the ground near the three people, representing a call to action for others to join them in the cause. King's sculpture aims to have viewers reconsider the mythology of the heroines of the bus boycott: mythologizing historical figures like
Rosa Parks draws attention away from the thousands of other black people who were central in the success of the bus boycott; the three anonymous figures and the adjacent footprints demonstrate the importance of these "silent activists".
Raise Up by Hank Willis Thomas The journey through the memorial continues with
Hank Willis Thomas's sculpture
Raise Up, a depiction of policing in America. The sculpture depicts ten Black men, encased in concrete, some with their heads sunken into the concrete with their hands up and their eyes closed. Cultural studies scholar Tanja Schult saw Thomas' sculpture as a powerful evocation of the reality of black men in America when coming face to face with law enforcement. Thomas interestingly encases these Black men in concrete, leaving them unable to move. Some figures' heads are sunken in as well, further demonstrating the lack of control and autonomy black people have over their bodies. Though most of their bodies covered, their hands are clearly visible, referencing the many stories of unarmed Black men being shot and brutalized by the police despite their innocence. The National Memorial uses Thomas’ sculpture as a connection to the present, a kind of call to action that the fight for justice and liberation is ongoing. ==Importance for Montgomery ==