Un-monument: Public Programming
Join us at The Embrace for a series of public conversions about democracy and justice, followed by community dinners to continue the dialogue.
Join the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture, in collaboration with The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University, for a series of public discussions on democracy and justice. In 2024, we hosted three conversations featuring leading academics, poets, and historians.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “Boston must become a testing ground for the ideals of freedom.” This means the freedom to gather and exchange ideas and deliberate on our common destiny.
Our goal is to invigorate public space by bringing rich conversations into the broader public, using The Embrace and the Kings' legacy as a spur. Together, we can create a space for broader expressions of the powerful diversity and complexity of American stories.
Following the public conversations, free events facilitated by local artists and cultural leaders will be held in relaxed settings, such as local restaurants, to continue the conversation and deepen public engagement.
These events, hosted in collaboration with the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, Embrace Boston, and Friends of the Public Garden, are a part of the City of Boston's Un-monument program, a multi-year, city-wide initiative partnering with artists and local cultural organizations to spark conversations about monuments through temporary public art installations, free public events, and interactive arts experiences.
Upcoming Events
Past Events
Poetry, Public Art, and the Politics of Memory
Wednesday, July 31
This discussion was hosted by Professor Brandon Terry and featured Professor Joshua Bennett and Professor Imani Perry.
Poetry, especially since the great age of epic poetry, has been a profoundly important technology of communal memory and stories of peoplehood all around the globe. Our first event looked to this legacy and its present-day importance with Joshua Bennett, one of the country’s most celebrated poet-scholars, and Imani Perry, one of our nation’s most prominent public intellectuals, as they engaged in a public conversation about the art and politics of memory.
Backdropped by The Embrace, Boston’s most talked-about work of public art in decades, these two extraordinary thinkers reflected on hard questions about who and what we remember, the form and function of civic memory, and the ways that art may be able to facilitate a more inclusive and insightful practice of imagination.
We learned together about the nature of collective and civic memories and the different forms that human beings have experimented with to pass them down through generations.
Black Lives, Black Stories, Our History: The African Diaspora and New England
Wednesday, August 21
This discussion was hosted by Kyera Singleton and featured Professor Kerri Greenidge and Professor Kendra T. Field.
During this electrifying public conversation at Boston Common, Tufts University historians Kerri Greenidge and Kendra T. Field delved into the untold histories of the African Diaspora in New England. Moderated by Kyera Singleton, the dynamic director of the Royall House and Slave Quarters, this event illuminated the rich and often overlooked narratives that have shaped the region.
Greenidge and Fields, both renowned for their pathbreaking work on abolitionism, the early civil rights movement, family history, popular memory, and the profound impact of slavery in New England, introduced innovative public scholarship that challenged and expanded our understanding of the past. This engaging panel sparked dialogue and offered fresh perspectives on the enduring legacy of Black history in New England. This event provided an opportunity to engage with groundbreaking historians who are redefining our understanding of the region’s history.
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