Enduring Roots Run Deep

"I hope it becomes a physical counter-narrative against social prejudices, stating clearly: these individuals mattered, and their loss is a loss to us all."

ATLANTA, GA – December 15, 2024

The act of remembrance is a fundamental aspect of the human experience. Remembering grounds individuals and communities in shared memories, offering tangible ways to manage grief and honor those we have lost. Through remembrance, communities can acknowledge loss and foster healing, processes that have deeply profound impacts on collective resilience. For communities facing stigma and whose members have died under marginalized circumstances, remembering through living tributes serves to validate experiences, increase visibility, and create opportunities for communal healing.

Located at 33° 44’ 10.5” N, 84° 22’ 06.2” W within Grant Park, Atlanta, Georgia, the WPN Power Tribute stands as a living memorial. Dedicated on December 14, 2024, the remembrance tree and rock garden were planted in honor of December 17^th, the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. It felt only fitting to plant this living tribute in Atlanta’s oldest city park, affirming that the lives honored here will continue to be an enduring part of the city’s history.

Sex work encompasses a range of work and labor practices that exist within a complex landscape shaped by legalization, criminalization, and moral judgment, conditions that render providers vulnerable to violence and subjects them to stigma. Societal condemnation frequently leads to a lack of institutional support when sex workers experience violence or death. This stigma influences how these deaths are reported, investigated, and publicly mourned. When a sex worker dies in the workplace, their life is often reduced to the circumstances of their profession, overshadowing their identities as whole people and vital members of society.

The marginalization faced in life often extends into death. Families may struggle to claim bodies or arrange proper funerals due to shame or limited resources. Public recognition of these losses is rare, denying individuals basic communal validation typically afforded to victims of other forms of violence. This erasure deepens the trauma for surviving peers and loved ones, as there is no space to collectively process grief. A tree memorial directly confronts this invisibility by creating a permanent, public site of dedication. A remembrance tree transcends the static nature of a headstone. Trees are symbolic of continuity, strength, and life – its branches representing growth and individualism, and its roots representing foundation, resiliency, heritage, and support.

WPN POWER TRIBUTE

Memorial tributes such as this act as historical markers, ensuring that future generations of sex workers and their allies have a tangible reference point for the sacrifices made and the struggles overcome. It anchors the community’s history to a physical space, validating the reality of the dangers faced by sex workers. It also signifies an organized commitment to remembrance – to never forget.

Our tribute includes the remembrance tree and positivity rock garden. Rocks decorated with the names of loved ones and other positive messages frame the tree. I like to think these stones surround the tree with love. During the dedication, in addition to decorating rocks for the rock garden, attendees also got the opportunity to leave notes, words of encouragement, poetry, flowers, and other organic materials at the site to honor and celebrate life.

By establishing this formal tribute, I hope to shift hearts and minds away from stereotypical narratives and toward the lives and enduring humanity of those the tribute honors. To declare that these individuals are worthy of dignity, despite societal judgment about their profession. I hope it becomes a physical counter-narrative against social prejudices, stating clearly: these individuals mattered, and their loss is a loss to us all. This act of reclamation is vital for the ongoing activism and advocacy work of Red Light District by TW!O.

However, planting the tree was only the first step. Its long-term success relies on thoughtful implementation and sustained communal care to ensure it remains a vibrant, respected space. In 2026, we are unveiling and installing a plaque - pictured below - at the tree site during a separate dedication ceremony. The ongoing project also includes biannual Arbor Days events in the spring and fall. The site will serve as a focal point for local events and sex worker awareness day commemorations.

This tribute dedicated to sex workers is far more than a gesture of sympathy; it is a necessary acknowledgment of their humanity, resilience, and the specific dangers they navigate. In the wake of senseless tragedies like the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, the Gilgo Beach serial killings, and countless other acts of violence in which sex workers were targeted, creating a living, breathing memorial becomes an essential act of resistance against erasure. A tree, rooted deeply in the earth, symbolizes a permanent claim to belong. It offers a sanctuary for communal grieving, allowing colleagues and loved ones to mourn while simultaneously asserting a powerful narrative that honors the full measure of the lives lost. This living testament ensures that the memory of sex workers will endure, persevere, and continue to GROW.

For more information about Red Light District by TWO and the WPN Power Tribute, please visit the website https://redlightdistrict.totallywowgroup.org and follow us on Instagram @redlightdistrictbytwo.

Proof of the plaque for the WPN Power Tribute – The purchase of this plaque was made possible through a generous donation from the SouthEast Leather Fest, one of our valued community partners

(Photo by D.J. Bing)

Scene from Tree Planting Ceremony – Attendees lay rocks, flowers, and other organic materials around the remembrance tree during its dedication and planting ceremony in Atlanta, Ga, on December 14, 2024.

(Photo by Eric Schatzberg)

Scene from Response March & Vigil organized by Red Light District by TW!O (formerly WPN Power) – Attendees laid flowers and posters at the site of the Atlanta spa shootings on March 21, 2021, Atlanta, Ga. In 2026, Red Light District by TW!O is hosting a 5^th anniversary event to honor lives impacted by this tragedy.