The Bulloch Bears Witness: Music, Memory and Moving Forward event will ignite community discussion around race and justice.
“There is still so much history to be made. As we write these next chapters, I want those coming behind us to see that we faced the wrongdoing of our past and that we recognize the impacts that our past actions have on us today,” said Adrianne McCollar, co-chair of the Statesboro-Bulloch Remembrance Coalition.
“I want the next generation to see that we have learned from it, and that we worked to correct it,” she added.
The Statesboro-Bulloch Remembrance Coalition is a group of community members that memorialize the victims of local lynchings. They aim to foster meaningful dialogue about race and justice.
On Jan. 4, the coalition will host Bulloch Bears Witness: Music, Memory and Moving Forward.
The event is free and will begin at 6 p.m. at Georgia Southern University’s Carter Recital Hall.
The Carter Recital Hall is located in the University's Foy Fine Arts Building.
The evening will consist of song and conversation that examine the local legacies of racial terror. The event will feature local musicians, poets, historians and advocates. It will envision remembrance projects that can move the community toward healing.
The coalition has partnered with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). EJI is led by Bryan Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy.
The initiative is inspired by the visits of many members to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum.
According to Patrick Novotny, coalition co-chair, EJI’s work acknowledges the histories of lynching in Bulloch County.
“These stories are not easy to tell, “ Novotny said. “Bulloch Bears Witness is a way to expand the conversation about past and present racial terror through poetry, prayers, sermons and songs that connect our voices across the generations.”
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