A large bronze statue of John Lewis, the iconic former civil rights leader and Georgia congressman, was installed Friday on the same spot where a controversial monument to the Confederacy stood for more than 110 years in the town square before being taken down in 2020.
Work crews carefully placed the 12-foot-tall statue into place while internationally renowned sculptor Basil Watson looked on attentively.
“It’s exciting to see it go up and exciting for the city because of what it represents and what it replaces,” Watson said as he participated in the installation process.
Lewis was known for his role on the front lines of the civil rights movement and urged others to get into “good trouble” for a cause he saw as vital and necessary.
In DeKalb County, where the Confederate monument has stood for more than a century, protesters invoked the term “good trouble” to demand the obelisk’s swift removal.
In 2020, the stone obelisk was lifted from its base using straps amid boos and chants of “Let go!” from onlookers in Decatur, Georgia, who were kept at a safe distance by sheriff’s deputies.
The obelisk was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1908.
Groups like the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights and Hate Free Decatur had been pushing for the monument’s removal since the deadly 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The monument is among several erected across the country that have become flashpoints of protests against police brutality and racial injustice following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
The city of Decatur then asked a Georgia judge to order the removal of the monument, which was often vandalized and tagged with graffiti, saying it had become a threat to public safety.
The Lewis statue will be officially unveiled on August 24.
