The life-sized sculpture features six enslaved people in chains and was created by Steven Whyte, a Carmel, Calif., sculptor.<\/p>\n
The Legislature approved the memorial during the 2018 legislative session. Miami-Dade Democrat Kionne McGhee sponsored the measure in the House, and Tampa Bay-area Democratic Sen. Darryl Rouson carried it in the Senate. The bill charged the Department of Management Services with developing the design and placement\u00a0and allocating $400,000 for fabrication.<\/p>\n
Whyte was selected by review committee members who called on artists to recognize \u201cthe fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the American colonies and to honor the nameless and forgotten men, women, and children who have gone unrecognized for their undeniable and weighty contributions to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt tells every child that walks past it that your story matters, your struggle matters, your contribution matters. It tells every visitor this nation was built by many hands, and every hand deserves honor,\u201d Rouson said, kicking off the half-hour event. \u201cAmerica\u2019s greatness is not found in denying its history, but in having the courage to face it and the wisdom to grow from it. \u201c<\/p>\n
Democratic Reps. Felicia Robinson from Miami Gardens and RaShon Young from Orlando also spoke during the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cFather, we acknowledge that these chains represent the suffering of enslaved people,\u201d Young said as a prayer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stolen names, the broken families, the bodies worked beyond dignity, and the generations across the diaspora marked by trauma. Yet we are sustained by your grace. And so let this memorial be more than a symbol. Let it be a stirring of conscience for every legislator and leader gathered here on these grounds, and who are sitting in the building behind us. For every advocate and partner in progress who does not just remember but who responds, not just to honor the past, but to do justice in the present.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event featured Tallahassee R&B, Gospel, and Southern Soul singer Anthony Williams singing\u00a0\u201cLift Every Voice and Sing\u201d and \u201cAmazing Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nDemocratic state Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis at the dedication ceremony for Florida\u2019s Memorial to the Enslaved (Photo by Mitch Perry\/Florida Phoenix).<\/p>\n
Central Florida Democratic Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis finished the presentation with an original piece she entitled, \u201cWe Remember,\u201d which was inspired by the Circle of Chains monument.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix figures. Six chapters. Six voices. Six stories, carried before they were ever written,\u201d she said, referring to the individuals depicted in the monument.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix truths passed mouth to mouth when paper was denied. Six testimonials that history tried to flatten, to remain, or to leave unfinished. Six witnesses where silence once stood. Six reminders that memory is not linear; it is layered. It is circular. It returns. These figures do not compete with one another. They testify together. They do not ask to be interpreted; they insist on being remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n