Monument to the Great Northern Migration

A monument of culture and history deeply rooted in the development of not only the Bronzeville neighborhood, but our city and modern society. This bronze sculpture designed by Alison Saar stands tall overlooking southbound traffic along Martin Luther King Drive, just south of I-​55, as one enters historical Bronzeville. A ton (literally probably much more) of symbolism based around the movement of hundreds of thousands of people moving north after reconstruction and into the 20^th century, looking for a better life.
The base of the sculpture is a series of shoe soles layered on top of each other eventually forming the body of a man and his clothing. Most of these soles have holes symbolizing the tough journey African Americans faced in this journey to the north and into new lives. The man holds a suitcase with one arm and waives with his other. Surrounding the sculpture is another series of suitcases acting as both protection, but fitting into the symbolism of the art.
The long history of African American movement from the south eventually settling throughout the north (amongst other places) and bringing with them their culture, food recipes, and other traditions to mold themselves into the greater fabric of not only our city, but society in general is on display in the living history that takes part in so many places throughout the city. Bronzeville just happens to be one filled with rich traditions and iconic places and institutions jam packed with a ton of local and culturally relevant history. Bronzeville also includes monuments that invoke remembrance of the past that are controversial and even sad (
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Which brings me to my point. Many who live in this city aren’t even aware of the Monument for the Great Nort