AMERICA -- The shining shore, the promised land, a beacon to the fugitive and wanderer alike AMERICA – Sequel to a brutal separation, island of no escape, cacophony of shackle and whip AMERICA – Temple of democracy AMERICA -- Marketplace of shame This is our history. This is our memory. This is the past we must never forget. Whatever our color, our names, the language of our speech… This is the past we honor and decry with the National Memorial to African-American Slavery The memorial enshrines the tripartite nature of this heritage – (1) the involuntary crossing, (2) a place of servitude and liberation, and (3) a voluntary crossing to a place of struggle and hope, struggle and triumph. Inspired by one of three surviving “slave markets” in the United States – the old town market of Louisville, Georgia, the columned Memorial, like its still extant inspiration, bears more than a passing resemblance to the Parthenon, iconic symbol of democracy today as it was in our past.