Ruby Bridges Fifth Grade Choir to Perform Monument Dedication on May 31

From the Alameda Unified School District

The Ruby Bridges Grade 5 Choir will participate in a special ceremony with the school’s namesake, civil rights hero Ruby Bridges, to dedicate Oakland’s Remember Them: Champions For Humanity Monument.

Ruby Bridges herself will speak at the event, which is scheduled to begin at 2:45 p.m. and conclude at 4 p.m. at Henry J. Kaiser Park in Oakland (19th and Telegraph). 

A choir of 30-35 fifth graders will sing “We Shall Overcome” to open the program and then later sing “Beautiful” to introduce Ms. Bridges.

The Remember Them Monument by Oakland sculptor Mario Chiodo honors 25 international humanitarians whose unselfish actions changed the world. 

Ruby Bridges is the only child depicted on the monument. Our own Ruby Bridges school is the only school in the world we know of that is named after Ruby Bridges.

The 25 global humanitarians shown on the monument are 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.

The monument is bronze with cast stone base sculpture, measures 25 feet high and 52 feet wide, covers 1,000 sq. ft. and is in four sections weighing over 60,000 lbs.

Mario Chiodo conceived the idea after the September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center. He wanted to create a monument that would represent healing, justice, and hope. 

The dedication promises to be an inspirational event. We hope you will be able to join the students of Ruby Bridges next Friday!