Macon Magazine

A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 M A C O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M | 1 0 5 Want more of the good life & great stories? macon Celebrating the good life & great stories magazine Visit the NEW maconmagazine.com and subscribe today! receive permits from the appropriate authorities (depending on the chosen site, either the consolidated government or Macon-Bibb Planning & Zoning Commission). e EJI Monument Placement Initiative contemplates more than simply ordering a memorial and having it delivered to Georgia from Alabama. While volunteers have completed a Monument Retrieval Interest Form explaining why the monument should be brought to Bibb County, the application and placement procedures – along with estimates of pricing and shipping – are still being formulated by EJI. Cities also are encouraged to participate in the Community Remembrance Soil Collection and Historical Marker Projects to ensure "a process of community readiness" – perhaps the essential and challenging motivation for constructing the Memorial in the first place. e drive to Montgomery is easy; on the drive home, we lose ourselves in reflection, our hearts heavier. It is impossible to experience the museum exhibits or walk among the memorials without terrible sadness and anger, but many visitors also leave feeling convicted to, in the words of Maya Angelou, "do better." is was by design, according to EJI Director Bryan Stevenson. "Our nation's history of racial injustice casts a shadow across the American landscape. ... is shadow cannot be lifted until we shine the light of truth on the destructive violence that shaped our nation, traumatized people of color and compromised our commitment to the rule of law and to equal justice." Visits to the memorial should be booked in advance, and can be done so on the EJI website, museumandmemorial.eji. org. To join the effort to bring the Bibb County Memorial to Macon, email MemorialinMacon@gmail.com and watch for news of community meetings as the process moves forward.

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