HOUSTON — A traveling memorial in Houston's Third Ward is honoring minorities, specifically Black Americans, whose lives have been lost due to social injustice and police brutality.
The memorial is at Emancipation Park. That is where dozens of pictures line up as wooden pillars, each one with a name and the story behind them.
"We have a lot of history within Houston. You know we lost Vanessa Guillen we lost George Floyd, Sandra Bland, we lost a lot of them. So we have very important ties people need to pay respects," said Houston rapper Trae The Truth.
That is why Trae contacted organizers and brought this traveling memorial called, “Say Their Names" to the Bayou City, in hopes this helps honor the memory of those that have died due to social injustice or police brutality across the country.
He hopes to bring awareness to their stories.
"The families are still suffering so I know it’s a breath of fresh air for someone still going for them," said Trae The Truth.
This traveling memorial features over 200 pictures of black people and other minorities who have lost their lives to racial injustice, police brutality and racism.
This exhibition started in Portland on Juneteenth and has made its way across the country. And now it’s in Houston, in hopes each picture helps continue the dialog for change.
"It’s not that no other lives don’t matter. They all matter, but black lives have to matter too. You can’t just say all lives matter and ours don’t when history has proven we have taken the bad end of the stick," said Trae The Truth.
The "Say Their Names" memorial will be up until October 6. Organizers hope that people don’t just see those stories of those who have become familiar to us but also read about those whose names we don't know.