Tracie and I share our heartfelt thanks with everyone who contributed to our GoFundMe campaign to raise an MLK billboard over the Neo-Confederate memorial in Orange, Texas, where Tracie grew up and her family still lives.
We’ve worked with the billboard company for many years now and they were extra cool this time around: they put the billboard up a week or so ago and it will remain in place until March 5. We paid for eight weeks but they ended up giving us nearly 11 weeks, which is awesome.
It will be in place on MLK Day, Monday, January 15, and it will remain there throughout Black History Month (February).
In 2013 the Sons of Confederate Veterans began fund raising to build a Greek atrium and a series of flag poles to display Confederate battle flags (warning: link contains graphic material).
In 2017, the group — the contemporary incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan — completed construction and began displaying the flags. Despite Herculean efforts by the City of Orange to block them, nothing could be done because the monument stands on private land.
It’s located on MLK Dr., a major thoroughfare where thousands of cars pass every day to get to work, school, and church. The city passed a law limiting the height of new flagpoles in the city. But it can still be seen from Interstate 10.
As we do every year, Tracie and I will be organizing a protest of the site on MLK Day. Please stay tuned for details and please join us if you can.
Our goal is to repurpose the site so that it reflects the community (which is half Black) and community values. We recognize the Quixotic nature of our objective. But sometimes the battles you know you are going to lose are the ones that you need to fight.
It’s a cold stretch of road out there. But today it’s a little bit warmer.
Thanks to everyone who contributed. Please join us on MLK Day as we celebrate the legacy of Dr. King.
Read more about our efforts on our blog RepurposeMemorial.com.