In Statue of Francis Scott Key (San Francisco), how is the Removal and Monumental Reckoning discussed?
The statue was toppled by vandals on June 19, 2020 in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. A year later, on Juneteenth 2021, sculptor Dana King unveiled Monumental Reckoning, comprising 350 sculptures which now encircle the plinth of the empty monument. These 4 feet (1.2 meters) high sculptures represent the first Africans kidnapped from their homeland in Angola and sold into chattel slavery in Virginia in 1619. The words ‘Lift Every Voice’ were also installed above the Spreckels Temple of Music in honor of the civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson, author of 'Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ a hymn often referred to as the "Black national anthem."
James Weldon Johnson first Africans kidnapped from their homeland murder of George Floyd Angola Lift Every Voice and Sing Spreckels Temple of Music June 19, 2020 Dana King Juneteenth Monumental Reckoning