Say their names

Pop-up memorial honors Black people killed by racism

Omar Morales, Copy Chief|October 28, 2020

A+family+slowly+winds+through+the+%E2%80%9CSay+Their+Names%E2%80%9D+exhibit+installed+at+Klyde+Warren+Park.+Many+attendees+recorded+their+experiences+on+camera+in+Dallas%2C+Texas.+%28Omar+Morales+%2F+Xpress+Magazine%29

A family slowly winds through the “Say Their Names” exhibit installed at Klyde Warren Park. Many attendees recorded their experiences on camera in Dallas, Texas. (Omar Morales / Xpress Magazine)

Hundreds of residents visited Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, Texas on Sept. 17 to honor the lives of Black people killed by racism. The “Say Their Names” memorial is a traveling installation that hopes “to encourage open dialogue while spreading a message of love, equality and compassion throughout the community and beyond,” according to the park’s website.

Reign Carroll-Carraway, a Black resident of Dallas and visitor to the memorial on its final day, gave the exhibit a positive review.

“The exhibit was amazing,” Carroll-Carraway said. “I think it was really eye-opening. You would never expect for there to be so many people!”

The memorial included the names and images of 212 people on 53 pillars, each of which was adorned with flowers. According to details of the event, the exhibit was put together by Emily Clarke of Emily Clarke Events and Alicia and Adam Rico of Bows and Arrows Flowers. 

In an interview with NBC5DFW, Clarke said the event was inspired by what she feels is the need for spaces where people can gather in public and heal. 

“I really feel like there is a need for healing and a time and place for people to grieve,” Clarke said.

Manav Thapar, a professor at SF State in the department of recreation, parks and tourism, said that greenspaces are essential for offering people a space to grieve and relate with one another. 

“Outdoor spaces are great for building and bringing communities together, as well as places to be connected to nature,” Thapar said. “Natural places offer healing, a connection to who we really are, to each other and to what it really means to be human.”  

Carroll-Carraway says she left the event feeling as though it had a personal impact on her. 

“What really hit home for me was seeing someone that resembled my little sister.” she said.

A traveling memorial titled “Say Their Names”, which honors deceased and influential Black people, was installed at Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, Texas. According to the park’s website, the installation’s purpose was to “encourage open dialogue while spreading a message of love, equality and compassion throughout the community and beyond”. Sept. 17, 2020 (Omar Morales / Xpress Magazine)
An image of Malcolm Little, better known as Malcolm X, is among those honored at the “Say Their Names” exhibit installed at Klyde Warren Park on Sept. 17, 2020. Malcolm X, who was of Muslim faith, was a human rights activist and popular Civil Rights Movement figure. (Omar Morales / Xpress Magazine)
Attendees wait in line at downtown Dallas’ Arts District to enter the “Say Their Names” exhibit housed in the Muse Family Performance Pavilion at Klyde Warren Park on Sept. 17, 2020. (Omar Morales / Xpress Magazine)
An attendee stops to reflect on the image of Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery was a 25-year-old Black man who was chased and killed by armed white residents of a South Georgia neighborhood on February 23. (Omar Morales / Xpress Magazine)
A woman meanders through the “Say Their Names” exhibit installed at Klyde Warren Park on Sept. 17, 2020. Each pillar holds the images of four slain Black people. (Omar Morales / Xpress Magazine)
The Muse Family Performance Pavilion at Klyde Warren Park is an ideal location for hosting events such as the “Say Their Names” exhibit. The space is 100% outdoors, which is conducive to limiting the spread of COVID-19. (Omar Morales / Xpress Magazine)
An image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is among the images of Black people adorned with flowers. King was the most visible spokesperson and leader of the Civil Rights Movement. He was assassinated in 1968. An attendee recording images walks past the image in the background on Sept. 17, 2020. (Omar Morales / Xpress Magazine)
A woman stops so another attendee may take a photo of the pillar honoring Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man killed in February at the age of 25. (Omar Morales / Xpress Magazine)
The “Say Their Names” exhibit, housed in the Muse Family Performance Pavilion at Klyde Warren Park, is nestled in a green space in the middle of downtown Dallas’ Arts District on Sept. 17, 2020. (Omar Morales / Xpress Magazine)