Color of Change recently launched The Pedestal Project. According to the official press release, it is "an Augmented Reality (AR) experience on Instagram that lets users place statues of activists and social justice leaders atop empty pedestals where confederate statues once stood as a refreshing new symbol of equality and progress."
The campaign aims to honor social justice leaders, including the late John Lewis, Civil Rights leader and former United States Congressman, Alicia Garza, Co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Movement, Author, and Principal at Black Futures Lab, and Chelsea Miller, Co-founder of Freedom March NYC.
"Symbols and their substance matter," Alicia Garza said. She continued, "They are a representation of that which we vow to never forget — they are regular reminders of what we value, who we strive to be, as individuals, as communities, as a nation, as a people. There are symbols of racial terror all over our country — Confederate monuments, crosses burning on lawns of civil rights workers, statues to killers and war criminals. But what if there were monuments to our ongoing struggle for racial justice, for dignity, for democracy — not confined inside of memorials and museums, but everywhere that people gather? The Pedestal Project allows us to imagine a United States that was committed to remembering rather than forgetting, a country striving towards equality and justice."
To take part in this immersive initiative, head over to the Color of Change Instagram page, and from there, The Pedestal Project lens will immediately activate on your cell! You'll be able to choose from select statues to place on top of an empty pedestal, and you'll also hear the powerful words from these leaders in their own voice on why change is worth fighting for.
If you're interested in learning more, please check out the official trailer here.