Imperatives of the Present: Black Lives Matter and the politics of memory and memorialization
| Author | Brianne McGonigle Leyh |
| DOI | 10.1177/0924051920967541 |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Column |
Column
Imperatives of the Present:
Black Lives Matter and
the politics of memory
and memorialization
Brianne McGonigle Leyh
Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Abstract
Black Lives Matter is having a profound impact on how individuals and communities view their
repressive histories and their present environments. The movement has greatly influenced the
questioning of everyday landscapes and the role of official memory in the erection, maintenance, or
removal of monuments and memorials. In this column, I shed light on these phenomena, and
highlight the tensions that exist between the acknowledgement and removal of racist or proble-
matic memorials and statues and the protection of historical monuments and cultural heritage
more generally. A human rights approach to memorialization would be a step in the right direction,
while recognizing that the imperatives of the present shape memorialization efforts. It calls on
those in the human rights field to continue pressing for critical reflection and debate around racism
and memory landscapes, and to call out and expose racism in all of its forms in order to bring about
social change.
Keywords
Black Lives Matter, memorialization, politics of memory, cultural heritage, racism
1. INTRODUCTION
‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘No Justice, No Peace’, and ‘Change, Freedom, Social Justice’ are a small
sample of the protest banners that filled streets across the US in 2020. The protests, the greatest
civil unrest the US has seen in decades, reignited in response to the recent deaths at the hands of the
police of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and later the shooting of Jacob
Corresponding author:
Brianne McGonigle Leyh, Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance, Utrecht University, Newtonlaan 201, Utrecht,
3584 BH, the Netherlands.
E-mail: b.n.mcgonigle@uu.nl
Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights
2020, Vol. 38(4) 239–245
ªThe Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0924051920967541
journals.sagepub.com/home/nqh
NQHR
NQHR
To continue reading
Request your trial