{"id":41534,"date":"2025-05-29T23:45:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T06:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=41534"},"modified":"2025-05-30T00:09:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T07:09:46","slug":"build-a-colossus-of-justice-on-alcatraz-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/05\/29\/build-a-colossus-of-justice-on-alcatraz-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Build a Colossus of Justice on Alcatraz Island"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Chad Roberts and 19 others have signed recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Issue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A colossal statue, a Colossus of Justice, should be built on Alcatraz Island to commemorate America\u2019s 250th birthday and bookend the continent with a sister monument to the Statue of Liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Colossi of Memnon to the Colossus of Rhodes, great civilizations throughout history have erected colossal statues to celebrate victory in war, prosperity in peace, or to reinforce a shared civic identity. The Statue of Liberty, erected in 1886 with private funding from a consortium of French and American philanthropists, was inspired by America\u2019s centennial and the abolition of slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liberty in the American civil religion has always been closely and poetically linked to justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln described the United States has a nation \u201cconceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.\u201d Dedicated, in other words, to justice: the presumption of innocence, due process and equal protection under the law. When pledging allegiance to the American flag, we close by acknowledging the flag\u2019s pledge to us of \u201cliberty and justice for all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liberty and justice are also philosophically linked. Plato described liberty as the lifeblood of democracy, the passion behind its restless creativity. Yet having witnessed a parade of demagogues ascend the Athenian democracy, squander its empire and execute his teacher, Socrates, Plato warned that liberty without justice sows anarchy and tyranny. With sword and scale in hand, blind and impartial Justice defends and protects Liberty from her own passions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The many similarities between Alcatraz Island and Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty stands, are also poetic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French sculptor Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric-Auguste Bartholdi, the driving force behind the Statue of Liberty, was enamored by Liberty Island (then known as Bedloe\u2019s Island) because it was \u201cthe gateway to America\u201d for those arriving from across the Atlantic Ocean, and because it was federally owned, \u201cbelonging to all the states.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, the federally owned Alcatraz Island dramatically commands the entrance to the Golden Gate, the literal and metaphorical entrance to North America from the Pacific Ocean. Facing west, the Colossus of Justice would gaze at the world beyond the Pacific Ocean just as the Statue of Liberty gazes beyond the Atlantic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alcatraz\u2019s role as home to America\u2019s most famous prison provides an ideal context for reflections on justice. But long before it was a prison, Alcatraz was a fortress operated by the U.S. Army \u2014 just like Bedloe\u2019s Island. Alcatraz is also about 50% closer to mainland San Francisco than Liberty Island is to lower Manhattan, and ferries pass it daily, ensuring easy public access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, a Colossus of Justice on Alcatraz isn\u2019t a new idea. First proposed in 1965 by Wisconsin resident Fredric Fosshage in a letter to the mayor of San Francisco. Fosshage cited \u201cthe constant search for justice\u201d as a defining feature of American society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how do we get it done?
 
First, the Colossus of Justice should be privately funded and led by Bay Area donors, ideally with support from Japanese and South Korean citizens across the Pacific in homage to the role of our French allies across the Atlantic more than a century ago. Support from the National Park Service, which governs Alcatraz, would be modest \u2014 the hosting of a design competition, for example, and allowing site access for construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funding should be announced on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, just as funding for the Statue of Liberty began in 1876. Like the Statue of Liberty, we should aim to complete the Colossus of Justice within 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some will argue the colossus would be an expensive and unnecessary vanity. The same arguments were made against the Athena Parthenos, the Statue of Liberty and every other beloved monument ever built. Others will argue our commitment to justice has wavered, that we don\u2019t deserve a monument to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that misses the point. Monuments exist to support those toiling to keep us on the path, not to declare victory in the struggle. The struggle is eternal. A Colossus of Justice on Alcatraz would elevate and inspire for a new generation the meaning and importance of America\u2019s noblest aspiration \u2014 the guarantee of liberty and justice for all.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link to sign petition: https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/build-a-colossus-of-justice-on-alcatraz-island<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chad Roberts and 19 others have signed recently. The Issue A colossal statue, a Colossus of Justice, should be built on Alcatraz Island to commemorate America\u2019s 250th birthday and bookend the continent with a sister monument to the Statue of Liberty. From the Colossi of Memnon to the Colossus of… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41534"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41534"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41544,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41534\/revisions\/41544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}