 Good afternoon. I would like to warmly welcome you to this afternoon's panel entitled monument removal and restorative justice. The murder of George Floyd in 2020 forced the world to examine systemic inequalities inequalities related to economic injustice, social injustice, health injustice. And the list goes on that. And the inequalities that are linked to the problematic controversial and oppressive monuments that again that these monuments have come to represent in the aftermath. Also in the, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd we saw communities tear down statues across American cities such as Minneapolis, Minnesota, Richmond, Virginia, Sacramento, California and Denver, Colorado. But we also saw the world, the rest of the world also engage in the removal of problematic monuments, such as Cape Town, South Africa, London, England, Artigan, Brussels, and Papaya on Columbia, and the list goes on and on. Today, during the Pass Forward Conference, we will discuss what happens after the monuments have been removed, and what are the conversations around restorative justice that are happening as a result of these removals. And also, what are the processes that facilitate these discussions. I'm delighted to say that we have three great panelists who are going to be walking us through those processes of what's happening in their communities with regards to the restorative justice and the conversations. So the panelists that are joining us today are looking through the lens of arts in activism, and they are in the role to again facilitate these discussions. So arts in activism play an integral role to help us frame these, again, these discussions. It gives a name to these oppressive systems and, and its iterations, and it also provides a vehicle for society at large to educate and to process and to also take action against the systemic inequality. One example that I always, that always comes to mind is the, the action to remove the Jay Marion Sims monuments, namely in New York City and also in Montgomery, Alabama, and wherever his statuette is, is located and as you may and may not know, Jay Marion Sims, it was known as the father for modern of modern gynecology, and where he formulated the specula. So if anybody has ever had a gynecological exam, a lot of those materials or the those instruments are used. But his, his methods were done on enslaved black women against their will. And it was done on their, it was done on with, without consent, nothing without anesthesia. So, the call to remove the monuments, his monuments are also associated with arts, and also with protest, and also brings to light the systemic inequalities regards to black maternal health. And that is that comes to be associated with, with his, with his statue, and during the movements to remove it, there was also there was a very close relationship between the art space and the activist space. So this one of the things that we wanted to talk about today and have, and have feedback from from our panelists. So I gave an introduction to what we're going to be discussing today. I also wanted to introduce myself, my name is Sakina more. I'm the program director for the monuments toolkit project for World Heritage USA formerly US iconose, and I will be introducing our panelists individually and giving them them, and, and presenting their biography. So the panelists that we have joining, joining us today are Mike foreshad, who is the, who is the director of the American Indian movement and chairman of the American Indian movement. Also, a Chumani Maxwell a, who is the, who is the national convener of the black people's national crisis committee. I'm a lot a Janine Bell, who is the founder and president of the leg by folklore society in Richmond, Virginia. So, I would be remiss if I did not do a line acknowledgement. And the World Heritage USA is quite courted in Washington DC. And it is the traditional territory of the contact the on the constant and the Piscata way people. And it's not nearly enough to do a netland that land acknowledgement. There's a lot of uncomfortable conversations that have been put off for many years for far too long that need to happen. With regards to having these, these, these uncomfortable conversations with regards to the, what it means to, to do a land acknowledgement and how to make it to involve justice. And I invite you to have those, those uncomfortable conversations against these uncomfortable spaces. So that's something just to think about. Again, I just really wanted to welcome you to the to this panel discussion. And I hope that you get a lot of a lot out of it. And the lay of the land is that will have my force to speak first, then to money Maxwell a and a lot a Janine Bell, and then at the end, we'll have about eight minutes allocated to questions and answers. And again, thank you so much for joining us. And, and I look forward to having a greater conversation with you all. So, our first speaker is going to be Mike for sure. Dr. is a member of the bad river, I should not be whose ancestral lands are in Wisconsin. Since 2001, Mike has served as the chairman of the American Indian movement, Twin Cities, and American Indian efficacy organization that addresses issues related to sovereignty and treaties. For several decades, Mike served as a leader and resource in the Minneapolis Indian community. He is a board member of various organizations, including the Minneapolis American Indian Center, part of the Earth School, and the American Indian opportunities industrial center. Mike is also the director of the American Indian Council for Education. Every Sunday, Mike takes care of the homeless native population in Minneapolis by serving free meals, in addition to serving as as a safety and well being advocate. As an entrepreneur, Mike is the owner and founder of the donut connection. Wolves Den Cafe and Wolves Den restaurant. Recently, Mike led efforts to topple the Christopher Columbus statue at the Minnesota State Capitol, and was recently released from probation. In addition to his many roles. Mike is a devoted husband celebrating 40 years of marriage, the proud father of four and the building grandfather of two. Welcome Mike. It is so much an honor to be here with you all today. And just a few corrections on that. The restaurant that I had is now closed the Indian Center is being renovated it's going to be closed for a couple of years. And those positions I sat on board of directors of those. Those organizations that one time. Right now I have three grandchildren and another one on the way. So, and my grandchildren are my, are my anti-depressant. They're everything to me. And that's the reason I do what I do. And so, we're talking about what happened at the Capitol, why did it. Well, the reason I did it was because of the fact that it was going to be done in the middle of the night by someone else. And everything you have just spoke of all the disparities, everything that we're going through. They would have been toppled in the middle of the night along with that statue. And these conversations needed to happen. And, and I had planned on doing it the proper way I had spoken with Peggy, Lieutenant Governor Peggy plan again and the governor Tim waltz about doing it properly. And we were going to have a huge celebration down at the Capitol. And we're going to try to fix the foundation of of the state because it is built on lies. It's built on genocide built on slavery. And so that's what happened. We did it. And what happened afterwards, I couldn't have, I couldn't have imagined, because I did imagine myself being in a courtroom and facing a judge, possibly having a public defender and a great attorney reached out to me, Jack Rice. And I looked at his Twitter feed on the day that it happened. And, and he was pretty amazed at what happened. So he reached out to me and he wanted to represent me pro bono. And he said that, you know, we can get to off on this. He said you have no record. You have a resume, a good resume, you've been involved in the community and so I told him I said, Well, then anybody could have done this. I said, I don't want to be gotten off on this. And he kind of rubbed his hands together and he said, Oh, I'm so glad you said that he said we are gonna have fun with this and he's writing out his statement. I said, I just can't believe this. I'm writing this assaulted Christopher Columbus. And he was giddy. He was giddy. And he got us to have restorative justice. And it was tried once in Minnesota with the Catholic Church, and the assaults that were done on those children. And they had three groups, three circles. And the first circle was to meet and those are the people who are upset with what I've done. And they wanted Columbus back up. And the second group of people that they got together were people who loved what I did and did not want to see Columbus put back up. And the third group of people. And he got this date was Indigenous People's Day or former Columbus Day of last year. And I don't know how he did it. But that's the day it happened on. And so that third circle was the two circles put together. And we sat there. And we discussed what happened. And there were people upset, you know. And how could I get away with this. And, and I explained to them I said, what was it just me. I said, if it was just me, I probably still be down there tugging. I said, but this has to do with all Native people. And I know all Native people didn't agree with what I did. I said, but what happened in this country has to be known. And that was the whole point of it was the education part. And so that group decided that my punishment would be no fine. No restitution. No jail time. I would do 100 hours of community service. And in the schools to teach on the genocide. And the, what formed this state, what formed this country, the atrocities. And judge Castro said once I completed that 100 hours. He would drop all charges against me. And the prosecutor told me that if I wanted to, he would help me get my rest record erased. And so I turned in 150 hours of community service. And I still have teachers in schools calling me wanting me to come back or wanting me to come to their class. And so I have, I have a class that set up that coming up soon. I had a call from the Ramsey County prosecutor's office. And they wanted to work with me. And they wanted to do a study on police. And Native Americans from the colonial times to modern times, and how that has affected our people. And so I met with them three Fridays in a row and then they called and said that they had to cancel the next meeting. And then I found out the reason they canceled was because of me. And she called me back and she said, would you know, we have Ramsey County has an open case against you. And we can't be working with you like this. And I said, well, I thought you knew that. We still want your help. We still want your voice at the table. But we can't do it like this because you're still on probation. So they called back and said, if your lawyer, Jack writes it willing to sit next to you while we asked you the questions. That would be the loophole. There's always a loophole. And Jack said yes, absolutely. And I've been talking with the St. Paul police department. I've been talking with, we have a new Minneapolis chief of police just yesterday, I believe he was hired. And I walked with him around the earth. Last week. And we talked. Because Minneapolis is the place where the American Indian movement was founded in 1968. And it was founded because of police brutality. And so I told him about that. I told him about the fact that I won $125,000 settlement against the Minneapolis police. Because I know what it feels like to have the knee of a Minneapolis cop on my neck. And so many of our Brown and black brothers and sisters know that feeling. But they don't have the resources they don't have the time or the, the wherewithal I suppose to take them to court and sue them. And unfortunately, when that happened to George, things changed. And I believe them and I still believe we are in a paradigm shift. And we cannot be doing things the old way anymore we can't be following their process, because they are the ones who came up with that process. And whenever I speak to large groups of people I always want to say one thing first. I want to do all the non natives, and in particular to the white people that you were not here when these atrocities happened. And it didn't happen to me. I wasn't here either. But what you have to remember is that you all are benefiting from those atrocities that happened all those years ago. My family, and my relatives, we are still suffering from what happened all those years ago. And I like to tell them that we had help, we had help from those some white people. Not all of them were bad, just like all the police ain't bad. I tell them I would like to think most of you here today are the descendants of those people that help my ancestors. But there might be one or two maybe three of you here today, whose ancestors have done some awful horrendous things to my ancestors. But you didn't do it. You had, you had nothing to do with it. We don't blame you. And we don't hold you responsible. But we need your help. We need your help on changing the system. We need your help and defeating that system because a lot of people on the other side think that we just want to take over. We want to take over and we want to. The biggest deal is we don't want to take over we want to dismantle those the systemic racist system that their ancestors had built in this country. Because whenever you talk of, you hear these organizations and governments talk about diversity and how they want to diversify. And we have to come together to make those changes. We have to come together to, to save the human species to be honest with you, because, and whenever I speak about diversity, it's always, I always want to go back to manifest destiny, the doctrine of discovery, the pilgrims, pioneers and settlers, and how they were able to make those changes. We have to come together to, to save the human species to be honest with you because, and whenever I speak of Columbus, it's always. Pioneers and settlers, and how they were, and in fact, extreme white Christian terrorists who came and slaughtered my people. But we cannot always be looking back, the conversation has to stop and we have to look forward. That's the most important part, because as we're speaking of all these atrocities that happened in the past, which we have to we have to address them. But we have to put just as much if not more concentration on what's happening because the earth is burning. The rivers are drying out. We have climate migration happening. And it's been happening for a while. People just don't know it. That's where we're headed. That's where our concentration has to be, because I've seen so much time and effort. A friend of mine, a new friend of mine, she wrote this book called Messing Statues. I thought she was going to write an article, she wrote a book. And it talks about why the statues were put up to keep people in their place. And, and again, when those statues put up, we were not at the table. And we cannot simply say we'll put a plaque, or we'll put something to equalize it on the other side. They have to be removed. They have to come down everywhere. But yet we have state legislators who are trying to strengthen the laws of taking these statues down. So we are in a fight. As a matter of fact, here in Minnesota, they just came out with the, the actual process because I want to take down canute Nelson. And he is the architect of the Indian reservation chair like White Earth. He wanted all the Indians to move there is kind of like Richard Pratt 2.0. And so they just came out with the rules and they'll be out at the end of this month. I'll get an application. But now they're telling me that I have to go through the whole process that you come up with to take down Columbus, which is already taken down. And I talked to Jack Rice and he said, there's nothing legal about that. It doesn't say anything in my sentencing. And so he suggested I just ignore it and just go in and fill out the application and they'll get the process started for canute Nelson. But in that process, it also says that I have to raise enough money in order to get done what I want done. So we're looking into that more see what has to happen. But yeah, that's where our focus has to be our focus has to be on uniting and trying to save this planet. Because we get our food, our medicine, our clothing our housing. We get everything we need from the environment. And every single day, there's something on the endangered species list or something that went extinct that's never coming back. And what are we going to do when the time comes when these infections and these diseases start. And they have become any chickens and turkeys from the bird flu had to be taken out and all the cows. Can you imagine if something happened like that, and we lost all the cows and the deer and the buffalo and the chickens and the pheasants and we are. We are so close right now to ecological disaster. The United Nations says that we only have maybe 70 harvest slept on this planet, because of all the enzymes and all the bacteria in the soil that is being extinct every day. So I think that's where our focus has to be is on the future. Absolutely I love what we're doing here I love we're talking about this this has to happen. That's why I did it with the education part. And that's not full. These are focused on what has to happen, because the earth is burning. Thank you Mike. Thank you so much for your, like, for just imparting knowledge, and in the current conversations that are that are happening in ways that we can definitely be involved in and be, and be more and be more active. There will be some more time allocated at the end of at the end of the panel. So if you have any questions, please feel free to type your question in the, in the Q amp a portion of your screen. Next I wanted to welcome to money max well a to money max well a is the founding member of the hashtag roads must fall and hashtag fees must fall student movement in South Africa. Max well a is also a national convener of the black people's national crisis committee. And also Mr Max well a is the chievening scholar and political activists in South Africa. Welcome to money. Thanks, thanks very much. Hello. Thanks very much. Everyone who have joined the program. Thanks for the invitation. I highly appreciate it. I suppose I want to just address some few things. Thanks. Thanks for the slide. Because for us this, the idea of of statues and monuments in South Africa. It's a, it's a serious matter. And of course the serious matter across Africa. And it helped us to reconcile with with our history, and also sort of understand the nature and the character of our history. And of course, the struggle of decolonizing Africa. For us, it's an important part of trying to reconcile with who we are today in the world. Therefore, the, the, the beginning of rose must fall as a culmination of this trying this thinking of what to do with ourselves in in the post a colonial setup. Of course others they still asset that it is indeed still a colonial setup. And I thought that is important for us therefore, particularly in the university setting, such as the University of Cape Town where we realize that the, the state of the university, it still remains the colonial state. Therefore, our university is, is, is not just a university in Africa. It's a colonial university in Africa, and the, the, the state of our university was speaking also on the idea of the colonial cities that we see in our country across the cities in South Africa. And I'm sure if you go in some parts of Africa you will find these signs and symbols that represent colonialism. And of course we were not surprised and in fact we're glad to see that the, the racist killing of brother George Floyd, and the outpouring anger of the American people, particularly the black Americans who saw it necessary to respond to that kind of institutionalized racism of killing of African people in America. And of course this response for me was very important because it's, it was a response to tear down symbols in America that represented racism. And many people thought that the signs and symbols in the form of statues somehow was a misplaced and a point of reference. And of course we know that is a historical view, because the signs and symbols that are represented by the statues, the names, the buildings and so on are in fact, part and parcel of celebration of slavery, colonialism, and other ways of, of, of institutionalized personal racism. Therefore, it was very interesting for us because we then saw similarities with our own struggle in, in, in South Africa, and in Cape Town. And of course for us we, we targeted roads, because as some of us would know that Susan John Rhodes was the leading figure in perpetuating institutional racism, together with them, the British Empire. Susan John Rhodes knew that he, he was representing Queen Elizabeth, the first, he was carrying that mission to go and colonize the black nations across Africa. And in many ways he, he was successful to that. Therefore, our, our, our tag of Susan John Rhodes statue is the representation of, of our understanding of history, because we know that I mean even today, most of the companies in South Africa, they've got a direct link with Rhodes, either as a founding member of those companies or part of the capital that Rhodes himself was able to, to generate through the racist labor relations that black people suffered under his stewardship in South Africa. So, the rose must fall comes out of that pain and suffering of black people. And of course, for us in the contemporary age of the post democratic South Africa, where we still experienced the same thing. And of course, to have young people at the university in, in a democratic South Africa, still see the relevance of their history through the symbols in the names of, of, of the buildings in our cities or in our university hall through the names of the, the, the cities themselves, right. And, and of course the statues that around our cities. And then one of the question that we ask ourselves, who are these statues represent, and what do they represent, and in our understanding, represent the white supremacy. And of course, we know that white people, when they put up these statues, such as Rhodes himself, they understood the power of symbolism. They understood what it means to have signs that will remind generations after generation of how white people conquered black people. And who with those people who are comparing black people across the world. Therefore, the background of rose must fall is really to seek that and of course, one of the things that we celebrate in, in, in East Africa was our intellectual ability to influence the global north. For example, the, the, the Oxford University where a student in Oxford University were able to adopt our struggle, our concepts, and our political reasoning as to why we targeted statues of suspension roads and, and of course, in Oxford. In the roads himself, founded one of the supported one of the scholarships there, and the, the buildings that are named after him and so on, in Oxford and there's a statue there, and, and the student themselves in Oxford University were able to identify to launch and rose must fall movement and that for us was very important for the very first time that the global north is inspired by the global south in terms of generation, generating intellectual ideas in pursuing a an issue that is of public good. Yes, please. And therefore, you will see here, the, the, the, the, the start and the launch of rose must fall in Cape Town on the ninth of March. And part of our thinking and reasoning also is to think about the condition of black people in today's South Africa, for example, most black people are staying in shanty towns in the township and in shacks. And when, when, of course, we launch rose must fall. We saw it necessary where people are living in shacks. And of course, for us, we have a direct link between living in shacks today, and in the rural areas and developed areas. We see a direct link between today's condition and the history of colonization and the conquest of the British conquest of the African people, the stealing of land of the African people and forcing African people to almost do a free labor so that it benefits the white people in Britain and in other world. And for us in South Africa, it was important to highlight and go back and take them, the, the, the human feces of our people who do not have have flashing toilets. And would not have so rich would not have running water as a symbol of their pain of their suffering as the way of, of being in the so called democratic dispensation. And then for us, it was very important to, to, to take this and, of course, then the usage of extra mint human extra mint itself. It shows really our disdain and the field with which we treat the colonizers of the African people. These colonizers, of course, are still running our countries in the 21st century in 2020, where resources, even in business are still controlled by white people. I mean, University of Cape Town is largely a white people is controlled by white people, the majority of professors at UCT are white people, the head of departments are white people. Now, this tells you the danger and the depth of colonialism that has affected African people, almost 300, 300 years ago, that those roots are still with us today. Right, please. I mean, you see here that the, the, on the 9th of April, when the university ultimately agreed that yes indeed, the statue must be removed. What we want to highlight here is that the, the power of our intellectual thinking and engagement with our feelings with our thinking with our ideas. For a very long time, the statue of Sir John Rhodes was at the University of Cape Town. No one was asking anything, particularly the so called thinking professors, thinking lectures, people with PhDs and stuff like that. And particularly in the history department, the politics department that people were sitting there theorizing calling themselves intellectual and yet could not make link between a statue that represented colonialism and and the conquest against African people, and then it was staying with them. And there's so many things that are hidden that the so called intellectuals are overlooking. And what we experience at UC team is what was happening in America. I'm sure there are so many people in America who are theorizing what it means to be black, what it means to be black American. And yet, all the history and the pain and suffering of black people in America is still there, whether in the corporate sector in the political arena, that which was part of slavery is still alive today and yet there's an expectation that black Americans must live with this thing. And it's surprising to me that it had to take the life of brother for Floyd to die in order for the American people and the American system and to see the danger of the deep rootedness of racism and institutional racism, not withstanding electing a black president through brother Barack Obama, but the institutional racism overruled his blackness, he could not he himself outrightly pronounced on institutional racism and reparation of black Americans and for me, it still speaks volume. And today we've got the deputy president and sister Camille, who's a deputy president America today, and yet the black lives movement is still trying to remind those who are in power about the history of suffering of the American people. And I'm saying there's a direct link between these histories and most of the time, those of us who are working in museum in intellectual spaces, we overlook these things because of our own personal fears and our own fear of being reprimanded or being disciplined by the establishment. Next slide please. Therefore, I wanted to say that the deep relevance of the monument removal and the restoration and the restorative justice. And I argue that we can't have justice or the restorative justice without dealing with the historical challenges that we are confronted with, be it in America or in Africa, that people want to force the victims to talk about justice and restorative justice without talking about the brutal history and the reparation for those generations of black people who have suffered in the hands of the white supremacy and the racism of white people across the world. I think for me, this is what we're trying to do with us to say first and foremost, we cannot talk about restorative justice without moving signs that don't represent us as a people. I mean, I heard other people in the UK, in the US scholars were arguing that if you remove these statues in public spaces and in public institution, you are raising history. And of course that is this ingenious argument because the question is if we leave these statues as signs and symbols that seeks to represent a people we must ask ourselves, who are they representing. To these statues and signs and symbol represent the future orientation of Africa or the future orientation of America, where in everyone is free under the sun, where in everyone seeks to have a future that is bright and united and non racial, right. But we can have non racialism without removing symbols and statues that represent some among our ass in communities, we have to remove colonial and racist symbol in order for us to move forward. Of course, you see here the movement and the energy of young people coming on board, meaning sometimes these things appear as if our issues just affect those who are politically conscious, but if you see these images when people are calling in one voice, they are trying to question things. Sometimes, those of us who are organizers and activists, think that we do these things for our own individual interest or for our own consciousness, but you will be surprised how many people who talk about these things, but they talk in small corners because they are scared, what will happen to them, they are scared for their jobs and so on and so forth. And then for me, this is an interesting kind of image for an encouragement for activists and organizers to start things, even if they are alone. Because in the long run, there are so many people who are affected by those kind of things that they are starting and these images show the number of people who are behind us and yet when we started people thought that we're just a few next slide please. Next one. I just want to show you towards the end, the amount of the next one please, the amount of the colonial statues that are still in our cities, and of course these are different events where in students and community members rallied and went to parliament to protest against statues and signs and symbols. As a result, our government have launched an inquiry to remove all colonial and apartheid statues outside, out of the public arena so that they can be put in the museum. Next slide please. Another one. Just one minute, another one please. I just want to show it towards the end please. I mean of course you can see the activists being arrested, that you're not off. Let's focus on this one. You will see here, this is the statue of Jan Smart, one of the leaders of white people who were ruling black people in South Africa. When we, these, these busts, for example, we put in public libraries, happily. And then when we started Rosemars Fall, we started to question these busts were in our libraries and ask ourselves, but who are these people. And as a result, when we start to cover these bars and came up with history and our, our, our library and you city, remove them. It means that every time you see something that is disruptive, or something that is there, and rather unconsciously. Those of us who are politically conscious must be able to question those things as a result now the university remove those bars because they understood our argument. Next slide please. And Chimani, thank you so much for, for walking us through this whole process. Yeah, I just, I just want to say to one point about these ones. You see, these are the, the, the, the, the statues and of World War One, World War Two, they are still in the city of Cape Town today. Some of the, you will see the statues here of Jan van Ribeek, and together with his wife. And what we are trying to say is that the statue of Rose was just a symbol. There are so many other statues that represent colonialism. And for us, the struggle against the colonialism, and we can talk about decolonization without first and foremost, removing these statues that represent and remind us of the white colonialism and racism that is still in our cities across South Africa. It's not just only in Cape Town, go to Joe Beck, you go to King Williamstown, you go to Mtata, most almost all the statues of all the cities in South Africa, they've got these statues. And that's why I'm saying for us this thing is still very alive. And we think that as a nation, we cannot move on without removing these statues. I hope next time will have enough time so that we can be able to debate more about these things we are very passionate for us and we are happy that even students in Oxford University are able to identify with the issues that we are raising. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you so much Chimani and again this is a lot of a lot of conversations that we're having that we're still that we're unpacking around the world. And, and, and again we do have some time after we're running a little bit short of time but make sure that everybody's questions are going to be answered and I'm pretty sure that there are going to be a lot of a lot of questions that we want to a lot of things I wanted to introduce our last speaker, Omilade Jenine Bell. Miss Bell, she is the founder and president of the Aleppo Folklore Society. Omilade Jenine Bell is an artist, a folklorist, cultural historian, a producer and an arts administrator from downtown Richmond, Virginia. So from its, from the headquarters of Aleppo Folklore Folklore Society, it is an African centered cultural arts and education nonprofit that intends to strengthen connections within the African diaspora. It all created and produces the society's annual events including Juneteenth, a freedom celebration, the down home family reunion, a celebration of African American folk life and Capital City Quonset Festival and the Black Book Expo, a conscious library, sorry, a conscious literary festival. Aleppo Folklore Society also offers a menu of historical of cultural history tours including in the beginning Virginia along the trail of enslaved Africans that Miss Bell created and interprets an ensemble. The society presents performances of African dance music and theater at home and on tour as well as engagement in the visual arts and material culture where Miss Bell curates and performs. Aleppo Folklore Society is operating in its 31st year. Miss Bell holds a degree from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She's a recipient of the UNC's Harvey E. Beach Outstanding Alumni Award, the Teresa Pollack Prize for Excellence in the Arts, the Bell Women in Arts Award, the 2019 Richmond History Maker Award, recognition as 2020 person of the year by the Richmond Times Dispatch, and a recipient of the 2022 Martin King Junior Community Leaders Award for Arts and Culture. She's, she is a member of Delta Sigma Theta. The Yoruba cosmology of West Africa, Aleppo is the Orisha or Intercessor who opens the roads, bringing clarity out of confusion. Aleppo Folklore Society hopes its programs and services are indeed road-opening experiences for its audiences. Welcome Miss Bell. Thank you so much for having me today. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much for being so fast. And if we can start my slides, and you can go on to the next one. So as Sakina was saying, our African Senate organization seeks restorative justice, affirmation and information through the personal fulfillment that can come from experiential learning in Richmond, Virginia. It was also confer tearing on and trafficking of black bodies during the American enslavement of African people. It was permeated with public symbols that honored the perpetrators of the atrocities of this dubious past. The central to this dominant public display, this public art, this antithetical historic preservation is Monument Avenue. In the Daily Rag, the Richmond Times Dispatch on October 3rd, 2007, the American Planning Association has confirmed what many people in Richmond have longed to believe. Monument Avenue is a true gem. Next slide, please. The Association, as the article continues, announced yesterday that it has designated Monument Avenue as one of its 10 great streets for 2007, a list that exemplifies exceptional character. In 1999, the article goes on to say, it became the only street in the nation to be designated as a national historic landmark. Next slide. The Monument to Confederate General Robert E. Lee was installed in 1890, all 60 feet and 12 tons of it. It was 13 years after the reconstruction era. And as appreciated by some, there was a black participation in socio politics. Of several such statues to come Monument Avenue had not come into its own. Next slide. But the tobacco garden surrounding it at the time paid homage to Virginia's cash crop and the enslaved Africans who planted picked and cultivated it. On the ground, black Richmond is in the midst of its own post bondage era of self determination. Maggie Lena Walker. Next slide would become America's first female bank bank owner. In 1899, nine years after the installation of Lee, she became the right worthy grand secretary of the independent order of St. Luke, a position she held the rest of her life. This organization became the parent of the St. Luke penny savings bank later consolidated bank and trust company which was until recently, the oldest black bank in the nation. Next slide. By the turn of the century, Monument Avenue was a residence of choice by the white elite. Next slide. Several monuments followed in a predominant sculptural rationalization for the lost cause. And for lynchings. Jim Crow segregation, massive resistance and the architect and the artificial hierarchies built upon a false notion of white supremacy posed as natural order. The monuments appeared around Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy. They stood for a century as a narrative, where there was no demonstrative counter until George Floyd's ancestral ascension on May 25, 2020, and the vibration shifted. Next slide. Restorative having the ability to restore health, strength or feeling of well being a call to action. Next slide. And reaction. Next slide. The police born centuries before as patrollers or as my ancestors would say the patty rollers or slave catchers. Some of the self made keepers of order in the south helped build the KKK. Some became sheriffs and police departments were formed. The police were perceived variously. Sometimes they were welcomed are welcomed protectors, and sometimes not. According to Newsweek magazine on December 28, 2021 black people continue to be disproportionately impacted by police violence black people account for at least 27% of those killed by the police in 2021, despite making up only 13% of the US population. Black people are three times more likely to be killed by police, yet 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed compared to white people. The data shows that most police killing killings begin with traffic stops, mental health checks, non violent offenses and instances where no crime was alleged. Close quotes. The historical narrative and policies that undergird the false notion of white supremacy fuels and ongoing systemic practice. Next slide. The people ended the sculptural rain of the 1891 monument to Confederate General Williams Carter Wickham. Next slide. And the 1892 Richmond Harwitz's militia in June of 2020. Next slide. Next slide. Express his life. Jeb Stuart installed in 1907 Stonewall Jackson in 1919 complimented Lee and the commanding status of a white man on a horse. Jeb Stuart. Next slide. Next slide. Next slide. Next slide. As the city, after the ambivalence of a city opponent monument Avenue Commission, begin to aid the people in their restorative justice work around monument removal. An approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed, and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime. Establishing restorative justice is a work in progress. Next slide. Artist, Cahinde Wiley previously established a practice of infusing the black body unexpectedly in classes in a classicism context, or as we might say in the vernacular flipping the script. Next slide. Next slide. Could I have the next slide please. Could I have the next slide please. As commissioned by the State Art Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Wiley saw the commanding status of oppressive men on horses and created rumors of war as a counter narrative and equitable comparative. Next slide. As a resolute. Yet gentler spirit. Next slide. Next slide. What's in a name. Next slide. Next slide. The monument recalling Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy was installed in 1907. Next slide. The commission had agreed in 2007 to only remove this monument, what they considered the most egregious. However, the people did not continue to wait after five years for the bureaucratic machinery to catch up with their will. Next slide. The remains of the Jeff Davis sculpture is pictured at the Valentine Museum, where this institution's collection intends to amplify Richmond share history. Ironically, the bronze statue was designed by Edward Valentine in a studio that still sits in the courtyard at the museum. And supported by ABC eight news Valentine director Bill Martin said, we want to create a safe space for people to learn be challenged and confront their assumptions and biases about Richmond's troubling past. Next slide. Oceanographer and Confederate Naval Officer, Matthew Fontaine Murray. Next slide. The people act and then say no more. But again, establishing restorative justice is a converse to systemic racism and to work in progress, as if obstructed by a stone wall. Next slide. Thomas Stonewall Jackson. This monument was installed in 1919 and was removed by the city of Richmond in July 2020. Next slide. Next slide. Lacking or slow systemic change does not obstruct personal initiatives. It does not have to limit the recognition of personal power. Next slide. In fact, the recognition by people in the streets of themselves pushed forward. Next slide. There are two of many examples of murals public art with restorative intentions that began to adorn walls with the idea of mending hearts and minds across racial lines. Next slide. There are two types of murals that began to rise. The artists explore as equestrian imagery again in a quite thought provoking and liberating way to generations of change making the charge towards prosperity and equity for all. Next slide. Thomas Stonewall at the previously quite conservative Virginia Historical Society, now the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, we find the spirit of Sankofa. This mural amplifies the calls behind the Crown Act, which bans discrimination against natural hair in schools and workplaces. There are no symbols rooted in triumphs over past and present adversities. This piece also stands as a memorial to Marcus David Peters, who has become a symbol in his own right, ancestrally, as he was killed by the police, while having a mental health emergency. Next slide. On July 25, 2020, my organization, the Allegaba Folklore Society, created and presented the reclamation drum circle on what would have been Emmett Till's 79th birthday at the Lee Monument reclaimed as the Marcus David Peters circle. Lee was undergoing a metamorphosis, not only in name but in its symbolism and in its appearance. It was ground zero for the social justice movement of 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Next slide. And next. And next, with those gathered, we sought healing, clarity, and a way forward inside our origin stories all buried. Next slide. I said that day, we are here as Mama Africa's children in our joy and our magic, our fortitude and spirit, we're here resonating with the drum, because the melanin in our inner ear invites us to do so. I believe that we have run out of time. So, unfortunately, I cannot continue the few slides that I have left, unless I'm given two more minutes to finish. Why don't you do just try and wrap up your last thought, and then we'll go and we're going to unfortunately not have time for questions and I apologize for putting that in the everyone chat that's just what I was trying to convey to panelists in the back. So why don't you go ahead and finish your thought. Okay, if you can show the next slide. And the next. And the next. If you can play the video, I will talk over it, and we will finish. I'm the way the system works you can't talk over the video so why don't I drop the YouTube link in the chat it's about a minute everyone so explain the context and I'll share the link. Okay, this is an excerpt for you all to enjoy a bit of the reclamation drum circle. While establishing restorative justice is a work in progress the need has been crystallized. Next slide, which is the video next slide. Next slide please. The need has been hologrammed in George Floyd at the Marcus David Peter circle former the lead the lead monument the next slide. The need has been projected next. The lead the need has been serenaded next in acts of personal power and love next in acts. After meetings proposals petitions concerns about the falling property values on Monument Avenue and court rulings. Next, and next, after erasure. Here we go from here with history fully told fully as context to affirm and inform, let us purposefully continue to preserve the places and the stories of our collective past that uplift equitable humanity and ensure our future. Thank you so kindly. I'm going to hop up and say a quick word to close things out. Okay, definitely, of course, I just wanted to thank everybody for for your presence here today I wanted to thank Mike for sure to money Maxwell a amount of me like a new bell for your insightful presentations. I know that there is a lot for us to unpack. And I'm doing my best to answer any questions that that popped up during the, that that popped up during the presentations. So, there was only two questions but I do want to encourage you to follow us all on our social media. Definitely follow a leg by folklore society, follow the work of Mike for sure follow the work of of to money Max well a and thank you everybody, especially the staff for the National Trust for Historic Preservation for providing annotations in the chat box. So you'll, so you have more information about our projects and ways that you can be involved. Definitely stay tuned with our space and feel free to contact us if you have any questions and we invite you to be a part of this ongoing present conversation because without you. Like I said in the beginning, we are all in this together to make for a better to make for a better planet, and for to make to make for a better experience for all of us. In order to make this happen we all, we are, we all need each other. Thank you everybody for your patience for and going over and being flexible to go over the, the hour mark. And I do hope that you enjoy the rest of the conference and have a great weekend. Thank you.