Remember Them: Champions For Humanity Monument - Oakland

Remember Them: Champions For Humanity Monument ¹

The Remember Them: Champions For Humanity Monument, by Oakland sculptor Mario Chiodo, is located in the Henry J. Kaiser Memorial Park at the corner of 19th and Rashida Muhammad Streets. The bronze with cast stone base sculpture measures 25' high and 52' wide, covers 1,000 sq. ft. and is in four sections weighing over 60,000 lbs. With four sections, this is the largest bronze monument on the west coast, and the only monument in the country dedicated to Civil Rights.

The Remember Them Monument highlights the accomplishments of 25 global humanitarians: ² (Oakland Local list)

The Rev. Ralph David Abernathy (1926-1990): Partner with Martin Luther King Jr. in civil rights activism
Maya Angelou (1928-2014): Poet, playwright, civil rights activist
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906): Human rights activist who fought for women’s suffrage and the abolition of slavery
Ruby Bridges (1954-present): At age 6 braved an angry mob to become first black student in all-white school in the South
Cesar Chavez (1927-1993): Civil rights activist and agricultural workers labor leader
Chief Joseph (1846-1904): Head of the Nez Perce Nation and human rights activist
Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965): British prime minister during WWII, alone at first against Nazi fascism
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895): A former slave who became a foremost leader in the abolitionist movement
Shirin Ebadi (1947-present): Human rights activist for Middle East issues and Nobel Peace Prize winner
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948): Pacifist who lead India to independence from Great Britain
Helen Keller (1880-1968): Fought for rights for those with disabilities
Coretta Scott King (1927-2006): Civil rights activist
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968): Civil rights leader
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865): American president who abolished slavery
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013): Human rights activist and first democratically elected president of South Africa
Harvey Milk (1930-1978): A leader of the gay rights movement
Mother Teresa (1910-1997): Leader of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, won 1979 Nobel Peace Prize
Rosa Parks (1913-2005): Civil rights activist
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945): United States president during WWII, who also established the United Nations
Oskar Schindler (1908-1974): German business man who outwitted Nazis to save more than 1,200 Jewish lives
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-present): Pacifist Vietnamese Buddhist monk who is a human rights and anti-war activist
Rigoberta Menchu Tum (1959-present): Human rights activist for indigenous people in Latin America
The Unknown Rebel of Tiananmen Square (1989): Stood in front of tanks during student human rights uprising in China
Elie Wiesel (1928-present): Holocaust survivor dedicated to preventing genocide
Malcolm X (1925-1965): Black nationalist, civil rights leader

Remember Them sculptor Mario Chiodo ^3?

Points of Interest include the following:

The visually impaired feature of the educational monument is first of its kind, allowing the visually impaired to touch and feel the faces of 25 world figures in one place, with humanitarian quotes also in braille.
The Remember Them educational monument is designed on a spiraling axis emulating the helix of the common DNA of all humans.
The base will include sculptures of books to illustrate the importance of education in the lives and work of all of the honorees.
The base will also feature seven sets of interlocking men and women, symbolizing the seven continents of earth.
The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN will have a casting of the educational monument on display in their museum.

Dedication

On Friday, May 31, 2013 at 3:00 p.m.the monument was formally dedicated.

Links and References

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