How Plymouth is marking the US National Day of Mourning
Speedwell - the flagship Mayflower 400 project - will be symbolically turned off tonight
The 'No New Worlds' exhibit on Mount Batten Pier will be switched off today to mark the US National Day of Mourning.
It has been 50 years since the Wampanoag Nation protested in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to highlight the suffering of their people.
To show solidarity, the flagship Mayflower 400 project on the breakwater will be turned off at 5.15pm, after three months of illumination.
In 1970 - on the 350th anniversary of the Mayflower's voyage, the then Wampanoag leader Wamsutta, known as Frank James, was invited to speak at an anniversary dinner.
He planned to give a speech that highlighted the plight of his people. It was revised by the organisers into words that he refused to read, and he was 'uninvited' from the programme.
Instead he led a march to the statue of former Wampanoag leader, Ousamequin and this moment led to the creation of the National Day of Mourning for the Wampanoag people, which takes place on Thanksgiving Day in America each year.
The 2020 National Day of Mourning marks half a century since the people of the Wampanoag refused to accept the one-dimensional telling of the Thanksgiving story.
To mark this moment in history, a video of Frank James' granddaughter - Kisha James - reading his original speech as part of the turning off of the Speedwell light installation will appear on the Still/Moving website alongside contributions by other collaborators.
People here are being invited to join in a global 'Light Beacon of Unity' by lighting a fire or candles in their own home.