Remember Them to Unveil Monument on Sept. 6, Honoring 25 Humanitarians Who Changed History

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Remember Them: Champions for Humanity, a world-class monument featuring 25 humanitarians, will be publicly unveiled in a free ceremony from 1-3 p.m. (Pacific time) on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 19th Street & Rashida Muhammad (near Telegraph Avenue) in Oakland, Calif. The ceremony will feature Maya Angelou and Ruby Bridges, and will be attended by Donzaleigh Abernathy, Julianna Roosevelt, and Ambassador Attallah Shabazz. The celebration will also include actor Peter Coyote, Michael Morgan and the Oakland East Bay Symphony, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Title sponsor Kaiser Permanente will be represented by Bernard Tyson, president and chief operating officer, and George C. Halvorson, chairman and chief executive officer of the organization.

Remember Them: Champions for Humanity is an inspirational and educational world-class monument that honors 25 humanitarians, including: The Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, Maya Angelou, Susan B. Anthony, Ruby Bridges, Cesar Chavez, Chief Joseph, Sir Winston Churchill, Frederick Douglass, Shirin Ebadi, Mahatma Gandhi, Helen Keller, Coretta Scott King, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Harvey Milk, Mother Teresa, Rosa Parks, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Oskar Schindler, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, The Unknown Rebel of Tiananmen Square, Elie Wiesel, and Malcolm X.

Oakland native and master artist Mario Chiodo developed the project following the fateful events of 9/11 as an expression of how difficult times can call forth humanity's best efforts. The Remember Them monument, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit project of the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Foundation, is believed to be will be the largest bronze sculpture in the western United States, the first grouping of international humanitarians in the United States, and the first monument in the U.S. to honor diversity. Remember Them will be placed in Henry J. Kaiser Memorial Park, in the newly renovated Uptown neighborhood in downtown Oakland. The four-piece sculpture will stand 52 feet wide by 25 feet tall, cover 1,000 square feet and use more than 40,000 pounds of bronze. A special feature for the visually impaired will allow visitors to explore life-sized bronze busts of each humanitarian, and will include information in Braille. In the first phase of installation, three of the five sections will be unveiled on Sept. 6.

Kaiser Permanente is Remember Them's lead sponsor, and other major supporters include AT&T, Bank of America, Catholic Healthcare West, The Clorox Company, Horizon Beverage, Rotary International #3 (Oakland), Ramsell Holding Corp., Securitas, Wells Fargo and The Whalen Family Foundation — among others. Southwest Airlines is the official carrier of Remember Them.

Additional Remember Them installation events include:

• Sept. 10: 6-9 p.m.—A sold-out fund-raising gala to support the completion of the Remember Them monument.
• Sept. 11: 5-7:30 a.m.—A free public Silent Vigil marking the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Visit Remember Them: Champions for Humanity at www.remember-them.org for information and images.

Press should RSVP to John W. Ellis, [email protected], 510-682-4398.

SOURCE John W. Ellis