A Monumental Journey

A Monumental Journey. Kerry James Marshall (American, born 1955). Initiated by the Iowa National Bar Association, the public art project A Monumental Journey honors the courage and legacy of African-American lawyers who founded the National Bar Association (NBA) in Des Moines in 1925. Black American attorneys had long sought to address discrimination in their profession, and in 1924, the Iowa Colored Bar Association convened, followed by the founding of the NBA. These pioneering efforts were directed by lowa Lawyers S. Joe Brown, Charles P. Howard, James B. Morris, Gertrude E. Durden Rush and George Henry Woodson who were joined by their colleagues George Cornelius Adams, Jesse Nathaniel Baker, Wendell E. Green, William H. Haynes and Cornelius Francis Stradford from Chicago, Illinois and Charles H. Calloway and L. Amasa Knox from Kansas City, Missouri. All of these founders led this and other efforts to advance justice, uphold the honor of the legal profession, and protect the civil and political rights of all American citizens. , , The sculpture is inspired by the "talking drums" that use a nuanced musical language for communication in traditional African cultures. The black earthen bricks reflect the material often employed by African builders and are a reminder that Americans of African descent constructed much of the historical architecture of the United States. Each hand-made, hand-laid brick recalls the labor of these workers, many of whom were victims of racism. , , The upper drum is off-center atop the bottom drum, giving the sculpture a precarious tension that suggests a struggle to maintain balance and equilibrium. The sculpture reminds us that the quest for equality and perfect balance is not yet achieved. The legacy of the founders of the NBA is the continuation of the "monumental journey towards human dignity and justice for the disenfranchised and politically oppressed people of the world. , For more information: amonumentaljourney.org