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T he removal of several Confederate statues across the country has forced many Americans into a reckoning with race. This national examination has led to the idea of statues honoring Black women, who are underrepresented. For many activists, monuments celebrating African-American women are long overdue. These stories of certain African Americans should be put on full display through public fixtures, pro-Black monument advocates have said. A” reclaiming my time” moment has swept the nation into more rallies for change. Here are recent developments that are bringing hope that there will be more statues of Black women: Coretta Scott-King Bust Unveiled In Boston The New England Conservatory debuted a tribute to Scott-King Tuesday (April 24) in time for the civil rights icon’s birthday on Friday (April 27). Artist MacLean Tiffany designed the “Continuation Of A Dream” bust as a way to honor the activist’s human rights and social justice work at the school, which is King’s alma mater, Boston Magazine reported. New England Conservatory unveiled a new bust of civil rights icon Coretta Scott King, who graduated from the school in 1954 https://t.co/IdethhhXJO pic.twitter.com/1Xubvw4Zg9 — Boston Magazine (@BostonMagazine) April 26, 2018 “What she stands for—the values and beliefs that she had—very much resonate with who we are as an institution and with our student body,” Tom Novak , the interim president of NEC, said. “All this aligned to bring this statute, this bust, to us, as a way of honoring that and keeping it in our consciousness.” Pittsburgh To Honor A Black Woman Pittsburgh took down a racist statue of Stephen Foster , a conversational songwriter known for minstrel tunes in the 1800s, on Thursday. It had been a fixture at a city park for 118 years. The statue featured a Black slave sitting at Foster’s feet with a banjo. “It’s the single most offensive display of public art in Pittsburgh, hands down,” Paradise Gray , a hip-hop activist, musician and writer, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August. “It permanently depicts the Black man at the White man’s feet.” The city is looking to erect a Black women’s statue to replace Foster and is taking nominations. Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and many others would fit the bill. Memphis Takes Down Racist Confederate Monuments The city removed two racist statues under the cover of night after a heated debate last December. The removal of the statutes — one for Confederacy president Jefferson Davis and slave trader as well as KKK member Nathan Bedford Forrest — was the culmination of months of protest work that pushed elected officials into action. Last year, Memphis TN, the city where MLK was killed, removed a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a KKK leader and slaveowner. State lawmakers are now punishing the city by stripping away $250,000 in funding. #ConfederateMonuments This is America in 2018 https://t.co/Z99z0vvwlw — Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) April 19, 2018 Events in Memphis, Pittsburgh and Boston will likely lead to more proposals for empowering statues. SEE ALSO: Melanin Under Attack: Study Shows How Toxic Hair Products Are To Black Women Guilty On All Charges: Bill Cosby’s Prison Sentence Could End Up Being A Life Sentence [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3793345″ overlay=”true”]
Statues Out Of The Sunken Place: Why Black Women Should Be Honored
