On Friday, June 26 the NC General Assembly stayed in session past 2 a.m. to vote on important matters ranging from state project funding to education. One piece of legislation that came out of this session was the approval to spend $1.5 million on the NC Freedom Park, which will be located on Lane and Wilmington streets in downtown Raleigh, two blocks from the state Capitol.

The purpose of this park is to honor Black North Carolinians + be a learning tool for students and visitors to our state capitol. The park has even created a school curriculum to encourage schools in the surrounding area to make it a field trip destination.

NC Freedom Park — to be managed by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources upon completion — has been in the works since 2002. With many changes and updates to the park’s plans over the years + the increase in public funding last week, the project may break ground as soon as this year. If you would like to help the park reach its public and private donation goal of 3.5 million, you can donate here.

The project was designed by the late architect Phil Freelon, who also led the design team for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

In an interview with The News & Observer, Freedom Park board member Reginald Hildebrand stated that the park makes two important statements: “It says that because of their experiences, African Americans have something to say to the world about the meaning and value of freedom, and of the ongoing struggle for freedom. Freedom Park will also say that NC has something important to say to the rest of the South, to the nation, and to the world, about what we believe it means to be a Southerner in the 21st century.”