There are many public sculptures in Downtown Brooklyn, from the Henry Ward Beecher memorial, to the Notorious B.I.G. sculpture, to the creation of Abolitionist Square. All of these works of art create an environment that works to help us better understand history. Now if we look at these sites and sculptures as pins on a digital map, we will see that they are all so close in range, so they must tell some sort of story. Maybe they tell a story of a journey, or maybe they tell someone that history is everywhere, even when we aren't thinking it is. The theme that I would use to connect them all is togetherness. From the closeness of the sculptures to the feelings that emanated from them, the theme of togetherness and unity show through.
The first sculpture that interested me, is the Unity (2019) sculpture by Hank Willis Thomas. This sculpture interested me because it tells a story of people coming together and it shows that we are all one under God. When juxtaposed to the Henry Ward Beecher Sculpture, by John Quincy Adams Ward that was made in 1891, the Unity sculpture speaks more towards the theme of togetherness than the Beecher sculpture. They would tell two different stories, Unity telling a story of people coming together and being equal; while the Beecher one tells the story that there will always be a white male that is superior to all, and that we are "dependent" on him to lead us to where we need. The questions that are raised are, if the Beecher statue is really showing all of Beechers hard work, and memorializing him, or does it just show a narrative from history that depicts what life was really like after the abolitionist movement - slaves still needing freedom, mock auctions to free slaves, but them still not feeling free, and life for freed peoples still being difficult and being treated from the lower class.
Lastly, I think that together they tell a story about Brooklyn, that depicts community and equality, after a long and tedious fight to get to where we are. They show us that Brooklyn is not just a place where people can come to find themselves, but they can find family, friends, a home, and they can grow from being followers to leaders.
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