Monument honoring Black Civil War unit rededicated

By PHILIP MARCELO
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston memorial to a famed Civil War unit made up of Black soldiers has been rededicated at a ceremony filled with song and somber reflection. The Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial on the Boston Common is considered the nation’s first honoring Black soldiers. The 1897 memorial captures the stirring call to arms answered by Black soldiers who served in the unit, which was popularized in the 1989 Oscar-winning movie “Glory.” Author and scholar Ibram X. Kendi in his remarks Wednesday said the memorial underscores how ending slavery was not just about one man, but many.