This online version of A Memorial Field documents a site-specific artwork triggered by the slayings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. In the wake of their unlawful executions, sweeping changes to policing were instituted, only to be systematically repealed over the last six years. The epitaphs of 8–15 words on each memorial speak volumes about the culture of violence in America. They are now searchable by name, date, or location. Transcripts from “Nine Conversations on Equity and Justice” are downloadable. 

ABOLITION

What is abolition? Beyond its history, it is the response to an injustice that deeply shocks your psyche. You wake up to a keen sense of what is right and wrong. You use your skillset to nurture a different way and to grow an effective engagement to end harm. Your imagination and your identity are now rooted in abolition, a comprehensive, courageous movement to redefine safety, justice, and relation in America.

EDUCATION

Why is our country’s history of racism repressed or distorted in schools? Why are patterns of harm hidden or denied? When White families long privileged not to talk about racism dig into hidden histories, facts contradict a complacency around you. Your awareness grows of how we all are complicit in systems of oppression. You find the courage to re-imagine policing in America.

COMMUNITY

How does your spark lead to a larger network of support? When you touch a difficult subject, you learn how breaking the silence touches a nerve, and why the struggle to provoke social responsibility makes us alive to our everyday surroundings. Courage anchors our commitment to redefine our relationships. Courage endures. Even if the dream is confounding, you facilitate authentic possibility and nurture joyful connection.

Lamentations