Welcome to Activating Heritage 2021!
Moderator: Tiffany Tolbert, National Trust for Historic Preservation
Panelists: Jaime Rivera , Sherry Williams, Joi Boose, Elsie Hector Hernandez
Monuments and memorials frame our built environment in Chicago, both reflecting and impacting our civic life. Concern over which figures are memorialized is not new. However, over the past year the global pandemic and racial justice movements shed further light on deeply entrenched racism and discrimination which have been normalized in the fabric of our society. The Chicago Monuments Committee arose as a response, and opportunities now exist for the public to weigh in. Discover the complex legacies certain monuments embody, and foster a deeper understanding of why some communities are deeply impacted by their presence while others remain oblivious. Panelists also discuss alternative strategies of enlivening our public spaces.