At almost every corner in the city of Bristol there is a tribute to a man named Edward Colston, and it has come to make some locals uncomfortable, while others are downright angry.
His name is on street signs, pubs, schools and buildings and in recent years it has caused intense debate as many ask: Should a powerful 17th century slave trader be memorialised here?
The city has grappled with the divisive issue, but now local residents and experts are willing to share their lessons about how to handle contested histories with the rest of the world.
As Australia approaches the hotly debated January 26 public holiday, these experts believe they have found a possible model for change.
"The name used to hurt me so much and traumatise me ... but now I see a real change," said Cleo Lake, a lifelong Bristolian of Afro-Caribbean heritage.
Ms Lake is a former lord mayor of Bristol and a supporter of the Countering Colston campaign, which advocates for the city to confront its history of slavery.
"I don't really subscribe to the idea we're erasing history," she said.
"It was always important for us to actually tell a full extent of history and that we're able to contextualise who Colston really was."
Who was Edward Colston?
Edward Colston was one of the influential bosses at the Royal African Company — the organisation that for many years had a monopoly on the brutal slave trade.
Bristol was one of three main British ports involved in the transatlantic slave trade. It's estimated that ships left the city to transport more than 500,000 African slaves to the American colonies.
The city's population today is about the same — half a million people live here.
But many Bristolians know Colston, not for his controversial occupation, but for his charitable pursuits and endowments to the city, including from his estate after he died.
A prestigious girls' school was named in his honour, but recently, after a community vote, decided to change its name.
One of the city's cathedrals honoured Colston in its stained glass windows, depicting him as a man of charity and goodwill.
Those too were recently removed.
"There was a lot of symbolism of Colston as a kind of a patron saint, as a symbol of the Good Samaritan," said Joanna Burch-Brown of the Bristol History Commission.
In June 2020, at the height of the global Black Lives Matter rallies, a statue of Edward Colston was torn down by dozens of protesters and rolled into the nearby harbour.
Earlier this month, the four individuals charged over the downing of the memorial were cleared on all counts by a jury.
The city is expected to reveal the fate of the dumped statue in the coming weeks, after holding extensive consultations.
But residents in this city are now looking to the future, eager to share their lessons with the rest of the world.
The council has set up the Bristol History Commission, while a recent Bristol University report offers a framework for any group looking to lead discussions on contested statues, place names, memorials and anniversaries.
Can a 'citizen jury' solve this complex problem?
The report suggested a possible method for finding solutions for these contentious public issues was to establish what they called a "citizen jury."
"You get a group of people together who are assembled on the same principles that you would assemble a jury. It's random and representative people from all walks of life, and you then give them a chance to hear arguments on different sides," said Dr Burch-Brown.
"They hear expert testimony, they deliberate, they come up with a recommendation, and that recommendation then helps to shape what happens.
The report was written by three experts involved with Bristol University, who brought together their knowledge of public space, philosophy, and diverse communities to help write the framework.
It identifies 11 factors to consider, including a figure's principal legacies, the mission and values of the responsible body, appropriateness of location, art-historical value, and duties of non-erasure.
It also provided five principles for successful consultations and public discussions.
"Our guidance is providing a much more systematic approach in terms of making sure the process is inclusive, participative, transparent, really with a commitment to justice and also on providing an evidence-based outcome," said Dr Marie-Annick Gournet, one of the authors from the University of Bristol.
"There is there is more an awareness of the desire for change, and also a lot more scrutiny from the public in terms of how we decide what to change.
"It's a history of everybody and it has to be achievable and truthful in terms of the recounting everybody's history."
The pub that found itself at the centre of the debate
The Colston Arms is a small pub not far from Bristol's city centre, but in recent times the establishment has gone by a temporary name: Ye Olde Pubby McDrunkface.
The owner decided to open up the pub's contentious name to regulars and the broader community for a public vote.
The pub and will soon be renamed The Open Arms.
Some locals were at first frustrated by the decision, but those behind the bar believe their regulars have come to realise it's still the same pub, serving the same beer, and playing the same football matches on the TV.
Still, the pub will always stand next door to the Colston Almshouse, a charity set up with Edward Colston's funds.
"There's no one size fits all ever, and polarisation is a dead end, if we keep having polarised arguments we just don't get anywhere," said Ben Stephenson, the third author of the contentious history report.
"These conversations are not about taking away statues, or obscuring history.
"It's about adding more and celebrating different communities, and celebrating different figures, that's the way we make our cities represent everybody ... because our public places aren't necessarily very welcoming."
For Bristolians like Cleo Lake, the change is more than welcome.
"Finally, as someone of African descent, I feel that there's more empathy towards our journey and to the things that have happened to us," she said.
"I feel that we've actually turned a corner."
