Building Hope, Not Walls
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, marking what many believed would be a new era of openness, peace and cooperation across European borders.
Yet here we are, 35 years later, and the opposite appears to have happened. Barriers, both physical and psychological, continue to be built, but for a different and very specific reason: to prevent displaced peoples from migrating into Europe. It's estimated that European nations have constructed a network of walls measuring over 1,000 km — the equivalent of about six times the length of the Berlin Wall.
Building Hope, Not Walls provides a portal into Berlin during a time spanning just before, during and after the Wall’s collapse to remind us of the effects that segregation can have on societies. Much like the concrete fragments of the Wall itself, the images are remnants of the past, unveiling a city straining to be reborn. More importantly, they reflect the political repercussions that authoritarianism can inflict, which, surprisingly, has been on the rise worldwide since the Wall fell.
(In June, 1990, I was one of the so-called “wall peckers” who helped take down the wall.) See story, “A Defining Moment"