Truth-Telling and Memory-Work in Montgomery’s Co-Constituted Landscapes

Authors

  • Anna Livia Brand Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, University of California Berkeley
  • Joshua F. Inwood Department of Geography, Pennsylvania State University
  • Derek Alderman Department of Geography, University of Tennessee

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v21i5.1967

Keywords:

Memory, race, lynching, memorials

Abstract

Drawing attention to the latent, hidden, and not fully reconciled historical landscape of trauma, we explore memory work in the contemporary US South, focusing on the ongoing cultural resurgence of Montgomery, Alabama. Self-branded and highlighted by the New York Times as the “Capital of Cool,” we suggest that Montgomery is an analytically valuable site to understand the complex and still under-analyzed intersection of race, memory, and place. Focusing on Montgomery expands our conceptualizations of memory work beyond the typical focus on activists and artists who push progressive narratives. Placing the National Memorial for Peace and Justice within a larger understanding of the city’s memorial landscapes, our paper argues that Montgomery’s conflicted landscape evokes new questions and tensions about memory, racism, and white supremacy and their broader spatial interlockings.

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Published

2022-05-17

How to Cite

Brand, A. L., Inwood, J. F., & Alderman, D. (2022). Truth-Telling and Memory-Work in Montgomery’s Co-Constituted Landscapes. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 21(5), 468–483. https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v21i5.1967

Issue

Section

Special Issue - Monumentality, Memoryscapes, and the Politics of Place