Savannah slavery monument still shy $600,000

SAVANNAH - Organizers of the African-American Monument, the first celebrating blacks in Savannah, are promising a grand unveiling July 27 even though nearly 600,000 is still needed to build and install it. <br> <br> The Reverend Thurman Tillman, president of the monument alliance and pastor at First African Baptist Church, said ``We&#39;re asking all of Savannah to please be a part of this very important project. Now everyone has the opportunity to step up to the plate.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> About $170,000 of the $750,000 it will cost to build and install the monument has been raised, according to Maggie Keenan, fund-raising coordinator for the African-American Monument Committee. <br> <br> Tuesday, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance gathered outside Tremont Temple Baptist Church to pledge support for the project, approved in June of 1998, and to urge others to donate. <br> <br> Keenan said fund-raising efforts are only now beginning in earnest. She said several large corporations are planning contributions as well as various civic groups and foundations nationwide. <br> <br> Keenan said the monument will go up regardless of how much money is in the bank by July 27. <br> <br> The ten-foot-tall sculpture shows a black family of four embracing, broken shackles at their feet, a stormy sea at the base and a slave ship in the distance. She said the work is ready to be cast in bronze.