#Africa Trending! The Mary Thomas Monument in Copenhagen Unveiled! Guest writer Dean Brown.

 

For my Art lovers out there!!  The Unveiling of this monument demonstrates by solid example how Artists are often the leaders in the most important discussions. Along with Harriet Tubman, Queen Nzinga, Empress Taitu and Nana Obiyaa(Nanny of the Marooned Africans in Jamaica), we should DEFINITELY know the story of 'Queen Mary'. This is Denmark’s first public monument to a black woman. 

Her name is Mary Thomas and it was unveiled in Copenhagen, Denmark on this day in 2018. In 1878, she was the leader of the “Fireburn” revolt of enslaved African peoples in which over 50 Plantations and an entire town in Western St. Croix was torched and burned flat to the ground!! Her mission was to permanently bring and END to the slavery system on the Island. She was called “Queen Mary”, but preferred to answer to 'Captain'. She is not a queen based on the inherited wealth of imperialism. Mary Thomas is a direct symbol of the fight against that, hence the defiant regality of her pose on this statue. This is an ENTIRE MOVIE waiting to be produced to tell this amazing story. 

What is unique about this Artistic piece is that it was not commissioned. It was a result of a collaboration between the two artist seen in the 3rd pic (La Vaughn Belle from the U.S. Virgin Islands and Jeannette Ehlers from Denmark.) Here is a video of their discussion of the campaign: https://youtu.be/YDYgkMHti  So the two artists are connected by their shared African roots. They independently undertook the creation of this monument to tell a story. The Mary Thomas story is on Par with Harriet Tubman, Nzinga of Angola, Empress Taitu, and her legacy belongs to all people who stand for freedom Globally. And her story is part of the overall discussion of Global African liberation movements. The coral stones that form the base of the statue are the actual stones cut from the ocean by enslaved Africans that were used in the foundation of colonial-era buildings and roads, almost identical to what we see near river Street in Savannah, Georgia. Notice how the area looks just like river Street in savannah. They were also burned to create the mortar of the binding material of the bricks. They represent the "invisibility of centuries of untold, unpaid, unnamed labor" which was the true source of the astronomical wealth of western countries that instituted slavery, sustaining their economies to this day. Queen Mary's statue sits on top of their labor . . .  but so do all of us. The Statue sits in COPENHAGEN symbolically in front of an old sugarcane and rum factory built to distribute the very goods produced by the unpaid enslaved people in Denmark's colonial 'prison camp' plantation system that once existed on the island of St. Croix. 

Her statue is nearly 23 feet tall. Her head is wrapped and she stares straight ahead while sitting barefoot, but regally, in a wide-backed chair, clutching a torch in one hand and a tool used to cut sugar cane in the other.  Here is an article about the visionary Artists behind the monument. https://www.picturethispost.com/i-am-queen-mary-artists-la-vaughn-belle-jeannette-ehlers-interview/    #deanmeetsafrica Tina Ferguson rguson #TheAfricaYouDontSeeOnTV Keelah P. Durham Euphoria ArtBlock

Dean Brown

Dean Brown is a child of the Global movement of Roots Reggae Music. He began Producing and Performing original music in college. Dean's background in live television became fused with his passion for visual storytelling and Pan Africanism, further nurtured by his work as an innovative Indy music artist on the gobal Reggae scene and bringing Reggae to new levels of creativity to new audiences

You can follow Dean on his Facebook page

All shares and comments, especially directly under the post are appreciated!

Jaz McKenzie~ The Word Magician

Guest writers welcome. If you would like to share your inspirational story or venture here on Its Braap, please contact me via my Facebook Groups: 

Its Braap  What's Up Jaz