i think bragg is not super well used as a sort of military advisor. i think davis' best move with back would have been to make him the confederacy -- and davis does not stick around long in richmond. they sent him to north carolina to the coast and that is where he ends up at the end of the war in 1865, i am sure they saw him coming and just went oh no, it is over. braxton bragg is here. >> and going to the kingdom of daniel harvey hill of all people. >> ladies and gentlemen, stephanie nelson. >> [ applause ] >> thank you. good e

wegood evening. welcome everyone. my name is -- pleased to introduce our guest for the conversation tonight. >> to my immediate left is daphne chamberlain, a native of columbus, mississippi and she serves as vice president for strategic initiatives in social justice and she is also associate professor of history at -- college. >> [ applause ] >> she started at -- the founding director of the civil rights education center at jackson state university and has served as a scholar consultant for numerous civil- rights platforms. first of all -- activism in the 1960s and the civil rights movement. into her left -- grew up in a biracial family that was spiritually and intellectually

guided by parents who are both anti-colonialists and -- over 40 -- on the cover of five different books. most recent of which chicano art and critical anthology which was -- in the top 100 art books of the decade. and he served for a total of 29 years as department chair at three institutions of higher education and continues to exhibit while teaching at the department of art at the university of memphis. >> [ applause ] and patrick -- also a mississippi native just up the road in richland is the cofounder of the emmett till center in sumner, mississippi. he has dedicated his career to making sure the tragic story of emmett till is not only remembered but also serves as a catalyst for positive change in this state and beyond. he holds a masters degree from the center of southern culture

at the university of mississippi and is a former monument lab fellow. thank you everyone for being here tonight. >> [ applause ] how we will proceed is this. as moderator i will eat with questions for our esteemed panelists and we will dive into questions from the audience toward the end of the discussion. if you are watching online submit questions in the live chat on youtube. let's get started. i would like to remain our panels again to turn your microphone on, please and hold them close to your mouth. i would like to start by getting us all on equal footing so to speak. for each of you, could you talk about what exactly are monuments and what do they mean in our society today? >> good evening. thank you for the opportunity to be here on panel. monuments for me of course, i was joking earlier i love

alliteration. i have a couple of words when i think of monuments across the state of mississippi and a number of monuments -- in particular. one of those is remembrance. reflection. reconciliation and last but not least, we dedication in some instances. for me, in terms of defining monuments, they are not necessarily relegated to a physical structure because i think of people being monumental because of the work they have done in communities, especially around the mississippi civil rights movement. that is it for me, william. it is when i think about monuments, those are the words that come to mind. but it is not just the physical structures or statues that stand but, there are also people who continue to serve at -- as monuments.

>> richard? >> thank you for inviting me to be on this panel. monuments to me is a way where, a region or a country can create its own image, sort of like nation building. and with an expression of power and also to elicit fear and to take sure that, and also it is a teaching artifact how to behave, how to keep people in line. and not to transgress against those in authority and power. i would completely agree with daphne that i see people as monuments as well. also with technology, i think of video as being monuments. thinking about the beating of

rodney king. that video being shown over and over and over becomes monumental. or, the video documentation of january 6 where they show it over and over and over. until it becomes monumental. also, whoever can control these monuments can control meaning which, for me is the most critical aspect of monument making and monument retention or destruction. >> >> i have a little bit of a, i think -- exactly right. i would agree with that. for me i think about it in terms of case building studies and think there is a term called moral imagination.

the idea of thinking about how do we use art and storytelling monuments even to process. how do you use it -- in particular they think about it with countries that have gone through civil war, genocide. the first thing they need is not new infrastructure were schools. they need the art, they need the storytelling and culture to heal from whatever has taken place. does monuments, that art can also lead toward how society will rebuild. while it can be the control and those type of statues i think they can be used for reimagining past wounds and creating a narrative for -- >> is there much of a difference between monuments and memorials? what are the functional differences between monuments

and memorials? out there for anyone. >> one thing that comes to mind is that we are all trying to honor our dead. and how do you do that. i think one of the opportunities is, can we create a space we can honor all dead? hopefully, in a respectful way in a -- to promote a multicultural democracy, not letting one person's dead over another but, creating that space. i do not know about the differences in monuments, memorials and graveyards. i think there is a difference in how we honor the commonality of people that came before us. >> just to add to that, i think with regard to honoring those who have died, we are also talking about inspiring people to live and continue the

narrative of family members, of those who have made these significant sacrifices across the historical spectrum. that is what i see and i am kind of like you i do not understand or really know the difference between the two but that is the way in which i look at it. thinking about the people who make that -- before me and the people who continue to inspire me. those are the shoulders i stand on and will be able to have my children stand on the shoulders as well. >> let me rephrase the question for the artist. i want to point out it is -- memorials to honor the people who are deceased but monuments those go up. to artists, in a nut sack how do you answer that question? >> i was going to say the difference in my own brain is like the difference between the

private and public imaginary. where the difference between a story and narrative. republic monuments are part of a larger narrative and cemeteries are individual stories. those are people we know and love. rather than public figures that have participated in these larger events that i've actually affected our lives. that is the way i see the difference between those two. private and public sentiment and larger than life. aerobic for on group of people and not her relic for others. >> i want to ask about some of the harder things about monuments and why they are so hard. i want to talk about -- everyone in this room, everyone watching knows this is an emotional and politically

charged conversation. why is that? can we really sort of tease out why this is so emotional. often times people are arguing over monuments that are not actually connected to their own individual families yet it is just as emotional as if it was your own ancestor. talking about -- in politics whatever but, why are the stakes so high? sometimes monuments are their single issue they vote on. why is this so charged, especially in recent years? >> i will start. >> thank you. >> i guess i will start with this. there is a lot of anxiety around truth telling. i think about and -- the audience this evening but i think about a panel that happened several years ago

talking about historical amnesia and how if you know -- for us to tell the stories. and of course those stories vary from person to person. when we talk about feelings getting involved and of course, depending on what those monuments mean to you personally or politically, that is where -- polarizing issues that rise to the levels and begin to fester and it manifests itself in such a way we begin to see the actions of people in places like january 6. for me, when we think about monuments and the roles in which they play in day-to-day and how people are internalizing their -- it is a very difficult conversation to have but a real conversation to be had simply because of the fact there is controversy around the conversation. >> in 2009, i did a

performance, wrote and directed a performance that was called -- in memphis, tennessee. after the performance, we had a panel discussion similar to this. at the powerhouse gallery. some of the sympathizers of the confederate monuments were there but part of the discussion -- this woman stood up and said that she had a personal relationship to general forrest usa that general forrest helped her family or ancestors get over a difficult time in their lives. so, she felt a very personal connection to general forrest. at the same time for people that have been marginalized and people of color, that

symbolism, and it is a negation of who we are and what we strive to be. in that same room, those two opposing viewpoints were created an incredible dynamic in regards to the conversation. how can one exist in the same space as the contrary notion. it is a very, i mean and i think and i do not mean to speak on her behalf but, her worldview was wrapped and if that worldview was removed, then how could she situate herself in regards to how she relates to everyday life. and the same for me. my worldview exists in contrast and in opposition to what

nathan forrest stood for. its existence is a threat to me. >> i have to admit i have read a lot about nathan bedford forrest and i have never heard about him as a friendly neighbor or -- that is anyone but thank you. >> it depends on the neighbor. >> a really good question. really thought-provoking. for me, i am thinking through, that we do not argue -- we do not debate well. the -- based here in jackson uses something called the -- you engage conversation around different subjects. i think it is a really good first step. but we are also -- the civil rights history museum where we have our traveling exhibits and -- upstairs and we put up a historical sign marker, the third one to wear emmett till,

a 14-year-old child, his body came out of the tallahatchie river. someone thought that the way to debate that whether that memorial should be there was to shoot it up. the first one was put up in 2008 and was thrown into the tallahatchie river. the second was shot so many times you could not read the writing on it. the third one was shot and then students from the university of mississippi stood in front of it with guns and so, i think on one side it is like oh, we just need to argue better and the other side, there are people with guns. using that as their way to communicate. so, i would hope we would lean into our better -- until we figure out a way to communicate with words. it is definitely -- a 14-year- old child. you feel like you feel so threatened by that that you

have to the story the sign? we have to do a lot better. that is for sure. >> that brings me to my next question which is pretty much related. from the top down, there are a lot of silences related to conversations like this. even this panel, the past two days -- some people that do not want panels like this and that is not unique to the state but a problem around the united states. and there are different laws prohibiting divisive concepts i think is the most common phrasing. it is an odd thing because the monuments are everywhere. they are all around us. statues and buildings, they are everywhere. you can barely turn around, there are counties named after people like that bedford forrest. and -- we are not allowed to talk about them in some cases. if you want to work for the

state or work in politics, it could end your career. first, what do you make of that observation and second, what sort of a message does that send to children? what sort of a message does that send if we are thinking future about what monuments do we deserve, how do you reconcile the work that needs to be done based on that reality? >> i will jump in. silence is almost, -- mississippi jackson metro. i grew up in kind of a post- racial lens. we did not talk about race. or, confederate statues or anything like that because we had moved past it and we were not going to talk about it. so it feels like we are in a

new phase. for sure, the work we do in the mississippi delta to honor emmett till, there was a 50 year silence were nobody publicly mentioned him for over 50 years. it was not until a highway memorial sign was put up around 2005 immediately someone wrote on it. different ways of silencing. at one point there was so much power and control that no alternative story could be told. and as we are -- telling more inclusive stories, there seems to be new ways to be silenced. i think we are finding new ways to communicate too. we built a smart phone app after our signs got shot up. we responded with a -- i think there is -- silencing is very

difficult and i think we have to continue to find ways to spread our messages. >> i teach at the university of memphis and they have recently -- concept lot two years ago. and created a chilling effect on our campus. i was carefully listening to what patrick had to say in regards to we need to debate better or talk better. but, if these laws continue, we will not have the same information. as bell hooks would say, that knowledge would be subjugated. so, how can we debate better if we are not going to have the same fax. since the reagan era, they had demonized education and

educators to. so now, they have created, i hate to say this but they have created a fine art, they have -- devised these things to codify silence not just at the k-12 level but also at university and college level. if you do not abide by the silence, you will be silenced economically. so, there is a large carrot and stick component to divisive loss. now you have to also report what you are doing to balance the diversity, the intellectual diversity on the campus as well. it is getting very, it is passed scary. in regards to the legislation

that has occurred and is coming down the pike. >> i have the great privilege of not having only graduated from an historic college i have the opportunity to also teach there and serve as an admin strata. we are not restricted by some of what you are faced with, richard but, patrick has heard me say -- until the lion learns to write his own story, the hunter will be the one who is glorified. it is important for us to make sure in spaces however we can, we can better debate the conversation around the history and how it should be taught. it is not about teaching the students what to think but how to think.

and expanding their minds and intellectual capacity in such a way that they go out and understand there are systems in place that are oppressing marginalized groups of people. it is important we make sure the students understand the power of the pen on paper and in articulating the stories and being inclusive and not silencing the history of those of us sitting here on this stage. those of us sitting in this audience and even spaces that reflect the history here. of course, that has been the one thing that has inspired me most. because as a student, i was pushed to think and pushed to ask questions about sources i was reading which is the reason i sit in the position i am in now and doing the research i do and that is -- your final part of your question around, how does is impact young people. as long as you have people who are sitting on the stage like us and doing the work we are doing, we can really fight

against all of the structures in place that keep this information from young people. expose these young people to the history and make sure it is not lost. that is how you get into that. i think that is an important part. everybody does not get the experience i had but, that is our responsibility. >> let's shift gears. let's start dreaming. what would so our prompt here, what monuments do we deserve? what would our world, region, country or what would mississippi look like if we had monuments we do not have to protect with removal loss. if we had monuments where we do not have to say well, we cannot talk about the conflicts those monuments came from. if we had monuments built into the curriculum and monuments every student wanted to go to. what would that look like. richer, you once said that one thing that monuments could do or should do is empower children with a way to defend

themselves. i wonder if you could say a little bit more about what you mean by children being able to defend themselves to public monuments. >> thank you. i shared that story with you when i was growing up in the san diego area. my mom only had a second grade education. my father finished high school and went to a little bit of college. my family from mexico would come and visit. they would ask me and encourage me, are you going to college? and i would say yes. and they would always say, good. to defend yourself. education in our arena our familial arena was not how do you get a good job.

how to advance yourself etc. it is how to protect yourself and your loved ones from those that are trying to exploit you. that stuck with me. this is how, this is the purpose, one of the purposes of education. of a formal education is not only to find joy and knowledge and find purpose and knowledge creation. but, also to use it to, as a talisman to protect yourself and your loved ones against those interested in doing you harm. hopefully i am not coming off as like the negative one on stage because i am filled with hope that i wanted to give the background to that. daphne said something important at the beginning. i was thinking about your

question william. what would be my greatest wish. it is to fully enfranchise or re-enfranchise the human monuments that walk amongst us. and to fully resource the human monuments that walk amongst us so they can find their full potential. in this country. so that, for me, would be the investment that would be critical. and beyond that, i do not have the experience to say what would it look like without your community being subjugated. i do not know what that looks like. maybe future generations with that enfranchisement or those

resources can dream what a society could look like that is not subjugated and is not perpetuate systems of domination. >> daphne and patrick, what kind of monuments do we deserve? >> i share this story quite often in thinking about as a fifth grader and sixth-grade i remember returning to mississippi and reading jet magazine. and seeing one of the most -- any child that age could see and that was an image of emmett till. in that moment i saw myself in that story. despite how many years separated his murder in the life i was living at that time. he was black like me, he was close in age like me and his murder happened here in the state of mississippi. i think one of the things that we need to think about as we

think about future generations is, how can we allow our young people to see themselves in the narrative in a positive way. at that particular point in my life, that was a negative image of mississippi. that is all i could think about and i was begging my parents, can we please move back to where we came from. of course, i understood that was a part of the story of this state. the state's rich history. but of course, there were young people who were motivated and also that gave momentum or life to a civil rights movement that was led by young people in the state of mississippi. i think that is important for young people to see themselves be empowered by the agency those young people demonstrated during the 1950s and 60s. and when you think about monuments, it lies in the folks who lead these movements and allowed their voices to be amplified and the actions they made and sacrifices made.

>> my hope is, i think we have, especially here in mississippi it feels like we move from crisis to crisis. it feels like we are trying to prevent something bad from happening. i hope we can get to a space and again, there are so many crises but, how do we, my highest hope is that we can have a democratic process where we are able to show up. we are engaged. we are able to trust the actual leaders will listen after decision-making is have been made on a community level. then, we would find out that we have a lot in common. as the governor with a, we all

want a good job, we all want safe neighborhoods, we all want a car in our driveway. we have these things that, and then how do you represent those values into monuments? into memorials? how do you create that safety, that courage. >> i want to come back to you patrick to ask about something that, there is a video where you were interviewed telling this incredible story and what i took away from that video is this line you said and it was and i quote, we think it is important if we are going to listen to stories that we listen to everybody as story. it made me think of so many of our debates over confederate monument today focusing on the -- of the antebellum south and the sins of slavery but, of course many of the arguments in favor of keeping confederate monument sort of treat the monuments as morals themselves. the poor every soldier who was dragged off to war. many of those people did not

have prosperous lives. they did not open enslaved people in these huge houses and things like that. i wonder, maybe the tone of our conversations how do we also make -- for that claim as well. >> i do not think it is mutually exclusive. specifically, i don't know, that person, -- video? there is a video of real-life events where we finally put up a historical marker in summer, mississippi where the trial of -- two of the murderous that lynched and murdered and tortured emmett till were tried and freed. and finally, 52 years later there was an historical marker put up and this community

member came out and was very frustrated and very angry someone had put this up. he wanted he came into the courtroom and wanted to know who is behind us. so, one of the commissioners of the emmett till memorial commission came out and said she said we did. the community did. so he was already thrown off balance because he assumed someone from the state or federal government had put this in his community. then, he started to rent, why are we talking about this? this is long and gone, we should not be talking about this. mind you, 30 yards across from it there is a confederate statute but, why are we talking about this? it is long and gone. >> she just gave him space to rant. which is probably, if he was a black man he probably would not have had that space possibly, right? but, she dignified him with

space listened to his story and finally, after he felt listened to, he was in a receptive mode and she said how old is your son? i think she already knew but, he said i am not sure i think he's about to turn 14. >> she said that is how old emmett till was. we are not trying to force anything on anybody. we are not trying to change anybody's way of life. we are trying to tell the story so whatever happens to anybody else's 14-year-old. that is when he went back to his house and came to her house later and offered to put a garment over the marker the day that our community was apologizing to the emmett till family for what took place in our community. and offered that as his way. he had a -- overnight, within three hours. that is not always possible but i think it is a high hope.

i believe in humanity. i still believe that we have better angels. and i think that sometimes, that was a white person talking to a white person. sometimes it is what we need. does that answer your question? >> i have time for just one last question for each of you and then we will open it up to the audience. i want to ask, is there anyone or any group of people in particular or any type of monument even, even beyond the statues that you think we could incorporate as we build more monuments in the future? >> i grew up in columbus, mississippi. i shared with william earlier this week that i had some of my earliest history lessons driving around the community. a big pilgrimage town.

every april you have the pilgrimage and i used to always be in awe of the antebellum homes. of course, there were people hearing me say at the university of mississippi i wanted to do civil war reconstruction history and completely went in a different direction with civil rights history. but -- in that conversation that when i think of those homes as monuments but not to the affluent people who live there but really to lift up the stories and unheard voices of those who built those homes and that is those enslaved people. that is my answer is when i think about monuments just in my childhood, and even thinking outside the box to those monuments represent or reflect their story. it is the untold stories for those voices that have been silenced that need to be amplified and we need to pay

attention, there are always two sides of the story. >> i would like to lift up what patrick had to say a moment ago. part of it is, how do we decent are the narrative. and localize it. and to provide opportunities we can listen to each other and, remind each other that we are neighbors. and that, and not enemies. and that we have a commonality and that commonality is our humanity. and how do we lift that up? how do we find opportunities, how do we seize upon opportunities to continue to do that. and then build a collaborative process where we can amplify each other's voices. because, if we listen to the narrative broadcast by the centers of power, we are never

going to be able to talk to each other. >> richard, i am going to take what you said just one step further. perhaps we need monuments that are not just of soldiers to violent acts but the educators and builders and the people that raise families. >> i was going to say that -- a really big horse with a guy on top of it. >> i really like the local a piece of the -- that is where the real conversation happens. i do think there is the possibility that we are stars in the night and we can help guide each other. if someone, mississippi and take responsibility and change is done there and we can light up for web, mississippi or memphis or wherever and we can gain strength of each other.

i definitely think that local peace is formative where we hear each other. >> let's take some questions. >> if anyone in the audience has any questions, please feel free to stand over here to the right. our first question comes from our youtube live chat. this is a general question for the panelists. how often, we often turn to the arts to help us confront -- histories. what are other modes of political imagination you can think of? >> can you repeat that? >> yes. we often turn to the arts to help us confront fraught histories. what are other modes of political imagination that you can think of?

>> i think patrick mentioned the welcome table earlier. just having meaningful transparent honest conversation and that is a perfect platform, not always the easiest to be able to open up in conversation but i think that is how you begin to remember, reflect and reconcile. >> to piggyback, we are a society that are constantly looking at our phone. and isolating ourselves and, least to be a society of entertainment centers. were instead of sitting on our porch is -- living with our neighbors, we looked and put

something in our vcr and dvd player. but to return to being porch people. and having conversations with your neighbors. and maybe even having monthly parties were people can come up, have food, share food, tell stories, laugh, celebrate each other. and that does not take much effort. >> -- i really do think art is a pivotal way. i think welcome table like conversations are key. community is t trust is key. i think we under emphasize the power of art and storytelling and literature. we have to remember that those are sacred, they are what cultures have relied on for

generations. that our stories are our power. >> our next question comes from an in-person audience member. >> hello. first of all i am honored to be in this setting. this is an amazing panel. panel, you mentioned earlier you grew up in a post-racial society. household, whatever. you did not talk about it growing up. i wish you could just elaborate on that a little bit. i'm an elementary school teacher i teach about mississippi history and culture through the arts. i would be fired if i were in florida right now. i find the kids do not talk about this. and that is a problem. i am just wondering if you could elaborate on that a bit. >> yes. i grew up in mississippi. i grew up going to a school far

from here. one of my stories is having a racial incident happened on campus as a high school student. someone used the letter in -- other words were used to a student and then we just did not talk about a. we got punished. but we never went to the root of why, when a fight began and people went to their worst punch verbal punch and they went to those words. we did not deconstruct that use that as a learning tool for learning moment. we just had to wash tables. they were really clean afterwards but, i feel like you know i have a 2 1/2 year old, i hope that i, i hope he gets a

lot of that from home, i hope he gets it from school and his church that we are not in a post-racial society. and thank god we are not. if you have ideas, share them. i think we are in a learning -- i do not have the answers but, i know what happened to me was not the answer. >> could you just then say what it was that turned you on or made you aware that you needed to start talking about it? >> what made me aware was running away from mississippi. i thought it was broken and would never change. that is why i think memorials are important, we realize that we can change and society can change. i learned that from learning to the till generation and learning about the civil rights movement and learning about how young people did change this is to be and it me hope to stay there and be part of that

change. >> thank you. >> our next question. >> hello. i am a -- board member from los angeles visiting jackson for the first time. thank you to the moderator and panel for scintillating conversation. my question to each of the panelists, if you could look 10 years into the future, could you propose a new monument in mississippi that does not currently exist and what message would you want that monument to tell a visitor? >> i am going to give you a second. to me there is an easy answer for that. in 1860, the number of enslaved people outnumbered the number of white people in this state by 80,000. when you look at confederate monuments it looks -- something big and important nsaids that these people lived here and

they mattered. >> [ applause ] >> history is complex and complicated all at the same time. 10 years forward, i would say perhaps a monument that is a labyrinth of sorts. that captures the good, the bad and the ugly but of course, it is inclusive and includes all of the voices that make up the rich history in this state where many of us were born and raised and love. >> besides william's brilliant idea, a statewide academy where students, high school students can come and learn strategies of resistance. whether it is storytelling, art making, journalism, investigative reporting. research, history. the language arts etc.

all based around resistance. >> -- i think it takes the best of mississippi to talk about the worst of mississippi is what -- told me one time and i stick to that. i also think there is place -- black joy and space for the chinese-american experience in the delta. i think there is so much -- monument, we need more stories not less stories. let's flood our imagination with stories. let's do one of our amazing writers in mississippi, the meeting -- pour it on. then, a couple of football once. >> [ laughter ]. >> our next question comes from -- >> -- mills college. when i think about a grand

monumental tradition, the sort of big statue, the massive stone work and all of this and you think about it in a sort of historical context, it is almost always wrapped up in power and systems of domination. powerful people building statues to send a very specific kind of message. almost always wrapped up in oppression. when we think about new monument or monument we deserve, should we be thinking outside of that tradition. maybe a post grand monumental tradition. thinking about -- the houses. monuments that are multivalent by definition and not built to transmit an actual specific message. >> that is for everyone. >> yes. obviously. i hope -- joking when i said a

bigger horse and a bigger man. i do not want to go to a space where you are like what is this? i hope that they invoke some type of meeting. but, i think that that meaning is love, community. and how do you show that? how do you express that? maybe it is gathering spaces were communities that ordinarily would not have come to the courthouse square because they felt that was not their space, they come to -- see themselves in that place. i think place making could be a part of it but, i hope that again, we just flood the imagination with those possibilities. >> i really like what patrick had to say. in regards to like space making, -- ritual. and the ritual is, the coming together of different

communities. to reconnect to reaffirm how they bind, how they are bound to each other. and, i think, and they could be very instructive. it is like step by step. like a game. you do this, it could be like walls that have text and says okay now do this. hold each other's hands or go touch -- go hold, embrace a stranger, et cetera. i'm just thinking off the top of my head but, the idea not just objects but, how does, how do those objects activate the space where it elicits an action by all of us. an action that re-creates community.

>> ditto. >> we are short on time but our last question comes from our youtube live chat. what are the most compelling monument you are seeing young people create? how will they shape, purpose and/or impact a monument change in our younger generations growing up. >> i will give a shout out to the emmett till academy in sunflower county. luria dickerson, who is a supervisor there, her family helped to integrate the schools. she unseated a man who was a distant cousin of the murders of emmett till. she beat him twice as a black woman but, she started the emmett till academy to help young people, emmett till was

murdered in sunflower county. and that story has gone unrecognized. that groups of young people have created civil rights tours of the mississippi delta. they are thinking through what a marker might look like in their community. it is not finished but, i just want to give them a shout out as a group of young people that are working through this type of work. >> in 2009, joyce ladner -- mcarthur cotton and i am thinking about students who were at -- during the height of the civil rights movement. i am also thinking about student currently enrolled at the early college high school who just recently got a documentary or short

documentary on their role in the civil rights movement accepted to national history day and they were led by mississippi's educator of the year, alexandria drake. when i think about these monuments that young people are committed to putting out there in the public space for people to not just be educated but also embrace and be empowered by. that has been a really important one. i just learned this the other day and i was so excited young people are getting this resurgence and wanting to learn more about history. they are taking history in their own hands and crafting it in a way that is delivering a powerful message to the masses and that they can also have a voice in this. that is what gives me hope and i am optimistic about the work gloria dickerson is doing and these young people are doing.

i look forward to seeing more across the state and the nation. >> i had the great privilege of watching my students rediscover themselves through art making process. and using the transformative power of art to make the invisible visible. i see more and more of our students use the transformative power of art to search for their own identity. and in such, they will continue to amplify what it means to be a human being in tennessee and everywhere else. that for me is a grand monument. >> thank you all so much. it is time for us to close. i want to thank you all for this incredible conversation. it has been an honor to moderate this panel. thank you to everyone in the audience who joined us in

person and thank you to everyone who joined us online as well. you will be able to find a summary of our discussion as -- by tomorrow. plus, interviews with all of our panelists. you can also subscribe to our newsletter, podcast and social media accounts. this conversation is part of -- society's remember their -- supported by the -- foundation. i hope you will join us we have the next installation of this conversation titled why isn't remembering enough to repair? daphne richard and patrick, thank you all so much. everyone please join me in thanking our panels. >> [ applause ]