Hearing the Lion's Story: The Politics of Remembering and Making Lynching History Visible in the Public Sphere during the Trump Era

Abstract

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration are at the forefront of this battle. It is precisely because of the potential role of monuments that this thesis looked into the politics of, and contestation over the memory of lynching, bringing into question what kinds of memory politics the EJI and other African American activists have utilized to challenge the status quo. This thesis takes up the political use, radical possibilities, and limitations of lynching memory in 21st century America, particularly during the Trump era.