ABOUT THE MURAL

Picture

  • Truth, Justice and Reconciliation

This mural was created by the Community Remembrance Coalition - Chatham to tell the ¨yet to be told¨ story of the African-Americans in Chatham County. This mural shares the story of those who opened the doors for many to follow. Their families endured slavery and lynching, through Jim Crow to emancipation. We celebrate their accomplishments and remember their journeys.

OUR MESSAGE
The message of the mural has several strands. The mural is the product of a powerful process that combined the experiences of African American natives of Chatham County alongside the views and voices of non-African-American community members in solidarity to convey an overarching message that appreciates the value of all people. We hope that the public takes away multiple positive messages. Firstly, such a mural serves as a powerful reminder of the valuable contributions that African Americans have made to this community, despite facing discrimination and exclusion for many years. There is a proud and prolific legacy of educational institutions that propelled Black people into significant cultural growth supported by military service persons, churches, and hard-working families. Secondly, it helps to counteract the negative stereotypes and prejudices that can often be associated with Black culture. We hope that others see a permanent piece of media that perpetually passes on a positive historical image of the African American community. Thirdly, it highlights the importance of diversity and inclusion in our communities and encourages us to celebrate and embrace cultural differences. Although the mural depicts prominent African American people, an intentional anchor for the image is a multicultural group of youth whose hands are joined embracing the past and embodying the future where that corporate community can be realized. Fourthly, it promotes a sense of pride and belonging among members of the black community who may have previously felt excluded or marginalized. Finally, it serves as an inspiration to future generations, demonstrating the resilience and strength of African American culture and providing a vision for a more equitable society that promotes truth, justice, and reconciliation.


The Chatham County Board of Education and Anthony D. Jackson, Ed. D, Superintendent of the Chatham County Schools
enthusiastically approved of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation mural and gave their approval for it to be located at the George Moses Horton Middle School. Without their assistance and support this mural would not exist. 
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Mural Committee
Chair: Reverend Corey Little, Pastor, Mitchell Chapel AME Zion Church, CRC-C and NAACP 5377 member
Pamela Baldwin, Mayor Pro Tem, Commissioner, Pittsboro Board of Commissioners and CRC-C member
Beverly Bland, CRC-C Board  and NAACP member
Jo Corro, CRC-C Board  and NAACP member
E. H. Dark, CRC-C member
Adele Kelly,  CRC-C and NAACP 5377 member
Mary Nettles, President, CRC-C and NAACP 5377 
Christopher Poston, Executive Director for Excellence & Opportunity, Chatham County Public Schools
Bradyn Robinson, Principal of George Moses Horton Middle School
Muralist - David Wilson
 https://www.davidwilsonpublicart.com/about
David Wilson collaborated with the Mural Committee to employ his background in design, sculpture, and public art, to create this mural to memorialize the social, historical, and functional context of Black History in Chatham County. He has successfully completed projects incorporating landscaping, lighting, sculpture, glass, stone, text, and interactivity. 
Wilson has served as Lead Artist for multiple projects in Durham, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Gastonia and now Pittsboro. He's created highly polished stainless steel sculptures and monumental murals. He also merges his art & design skills with technology to create mobile applications for museums, galleries and cultural centers that allow the public to become more immersed in their experience and interaction with art.
Wilson's fine artwork paintings and mixed media collage have been featured in Essence and Upscale magazines and notable collectors of his work include Princeton University, Oprah Winfrey, Actor/Musician for COMMON, Henry Louis Gates, Dr. Cornel West, and actors, Phylicia Rashad,
and Ruby Dee.
Time Frame
Truth, Justice and Reconciliation takes the viewer from Africa; being captured and brought to the United States as slaves to work on plantations, being emancipated and working to own and farm their own land to becoming educated and becoming professionals and contributors to the community as examples for future children of all races.
MURAL CURRICULUM for grades 6-8