The Soul of a Story

The Soul of a Story

I sometimes attach meaning to houses that may be too nostalgic. But houses are where lives are lived, where memories are made, and where the past becomes a marker for understanding the present. And to build them takes a lot of people with different roles. This house is our family cottage, built in 1980 on…

Denise Roosendaal: Lynching Memorial

Lynching Memorial: The National Memorial for Peace and Justice

Our horrific American past comes to life here at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. After passing a sculpture by Ghanaian artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo depicting the trauma of slavery, I entered the open-air memorial to stand face-to-face with our past. A slab of copper-colored material, in the shape of a tombstone, hangs—each placed beside…