A rendering of the Freedom Sculpture to be unveiled as a public monument on July 4th in Los Angeles.
At this moment in America we need to find the bridges that connect us not the walls that divide us — these are the sentiments echoed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti ahead of July 4th and the unveiling of the Freedom Sculpture in Los Angeles.
Some 140 years ago, a British archeologist unearthed a clay cylinder in modern day Iraq. The tablet was made after Cyrus the Great, the founder of ancient Persia's Achaemenid Empire, captured Babylon in 539 BC. In cuneiform script, Cyrus promotes tolerance and diversity favoring racial, linguistic and religious rights as well as respect and equality for humanity. A modern sculpture of the Cyrus cylinder created by renowned artist Cecil Balmond will be unveiled in Los Angeles on July 4th.
“The idea of multiculturalism, of religious tolerance, of human rights, is something that has not just been invented but something that is an eternal human instinct,” Mayor Garcetti says in a video promoting the unveiling.
Not many realize that Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and George Washington were inspired by Cyrus as a key political figure. A replica of the cylinder lives at the United Nations in between the Security Council and Economic Council chambers. The midwestern town of Bucyrus, Ohio got its name in memory of the Persian General.
"This is the most important and impactful public project in the history of the Iranian-American community in diaspora,” says Hormoz Ameri, Vice-Chair of Farhang Foundation, the non-profit cultural organization that commissioned the work. "It is a precious gift from our community to the most diverse city in the U.S. as a permanent reminder of the ideas of liberty, tolerance and multiculturalism which was espoused by Cyrus the Great over 2500 years ago. The same ideas that were later adopted by the Founding Fathers of the United States and enshrined in our Constitution.”
Farhang Foundation Councilmember Mehrnoush Yazdanyar says this project has been a long time in the making. “It took us years to gather the initial support, to commission the design and to finalize the location and get city approval to begin the commissioning of the sculptor.”
Inspired by pioneering crowdfunding efforts around the Statue of Liberty, Alireza Ardekani, the Executive Director of the Farhang Foundation says the Freedom Sculpture has now become one of the most successful crowdfunded monuments in history, with over 1,000,000 supporters from over 50 countries backing it up. "When Farhang Foundation originally set out to raised funds for this project last June,” Ardekani says “We never could have envisioned it being so well received by such a record breaking number of diverse individuals from all over the world. This only demonstrates how universal the message of this project is, and how it resonates with so many people.”
The unveiling of the sculpture is set to take place on July 4th at 5:30 PST as part of the LA Freedom Festival on historic Route 66 - Santa Monica Boulevard at Century Park East.
Editorial Note: Last month, Davar Ardalan also donated $100 towards the crowdfunding campaign in memory of her late aunt and long-time Los Angeles resident Dr. Lailee Bakhtiar who passed away after a long battle with multiple sclerosis in 2009. Lailee arrived in Los Angeles on September 1, 1939, together with her mother Helen and younger sisters Shireen and Laleh. Lailee eventually attended UCLA and later graduated from USC medical school and spent the rest of her life practicing as a physician in Los Angeles.
The Iranian American community in Los Angeles, 1951. My aunt, Dr. Lailee Bakhtiar, is standing in the far right beneath the arrow that says “ME.”