Raise Up is a monumental bronze and cement sculpture permanently living on the grounds of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice established by The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). The site is a sacred six-acre space for truth-telling and reflection about racial terror in America and its legacy.

Installed on the grounds in Montgomery, Alabama, Raise Up is inspired by a 1960s photograph by Ernest Cole of 13 South African miners as they undergo a humiliating group medical examination in the nude.

Raise Up reproduces the workers’ raised arms in three-dimensional bronze. The gesture recalls countless images made in the decades since; reminders of how violence against racialized groups persists in the US criminal justice system.