Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Statue 'The Embrace' Unveiled in Boston to Mixed Reactions OnlineA bronze statue to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King in Boston is being panned online for being ambiguous in appearance.
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A statue designed by Brooklyn-based artist Hank Willis Thomascalled "The Embrace," imagined as a monument to the love of Coretta Scott King, was unveiled in Boston on Friday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The statue wascommissionedby entrepreneur Paul English — who co-founded travel site Kayak and the Boston Venture Studio — "as a result of calls for a memorial to Dr. King spanning several decades," the mayor's officesaid in 2021. The Boston Art Commission selected Thomas, a conceptual artist based in Brooklyn,along with collaboratorMASS Design Group, in 2019, and approved the final plan unanimously, the mayor's office added.
"The Embrace" is intended to reference a famous photo of King and his wife, Coretta, hugging after King won the Nobel Peace Prize. Kingmethis wife, Coretta, in Boston when they were both students.
Per theNew York Times, the sculpture weighs 19 tons and is constructed from over 600 pieces of bronze. It is in the Boston Common in the 1965 Freedom Plaza, which celebrates other civil rights leaders in the City. It'sabout20 feet tall.
Reactions have beenmixed. Somepraisedthe sculpture's "beauty and power" while otherscalled it a "waste of money“甚至性ually suggestive. Online, the discussion also turned to issues of historicity and how to honor the civil rights leader's legacy.
Please read my other tweets about the sculpture—but here is another angle and the photo of the two "The Embrace" is based on. It's when MLK Jr. found out he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.pic.twitter.com/Q7Vyk7OPKK
— Amaka Ubaka (@AmakaUbakaTV)January 14, 2023
"You never wake up and think you'd be able to contribute meaningfully to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King," Thomas told the NYT.
The sculpture, "differs from the singular, heroic form of many memorials to Dr. King and others, instead emphasizing the power of collective action, the role of women as leaders, and the forging of new bonds of solidarity out of mutual empathy and vulnerability,"the mayor's office also said.
Embrace Boston, a nonprofit focused on arts and racial justice, that helped fund the statute,said in a statementthe work was "an incredible milestone in our journey towards Boston's future."
Still, the statue generated a fair amount of online controversy over the weekend.
I just spit out my water. These pictures get worse and worse lol
— Malynda Hale (@MalyndaHale)January 15, 2023
Boston's statue of George Washington, vs. Boston's sculpture of ML King and Coretta Scott King in an embrace. Yall gotta start doing our people right. This is not appropriate.pic.twitter.com/7naAdKIaxB
— Alexander Dukes (@alxcharlesdukes)January 14, 2023
I'm sorry... Props to Boston for showing love to the King family but... This statue is weird.https://t.co/i911dwimu1
— Terrence Ford (@EZBreezyT)January 14, 2023
“你们做任何事情,但给我们欠什么。REPARATIONS," musical artist Chris Crackwrote. (The Boston City Council didapprovea commission to study reparations in December.)
Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah criticized the sculpture in aTwitter thread:
It doesn't sit well with me that Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King are reduced to body parts-- just their arms. Not their faces- their expressions.
— Karen Attiah IS ON INSTAGRAM @karenattiah (@KarenAttiah)January 16, 2023
For such a large statue, dismembering MLK and Coretta Scott King is... a choice. A deliberate one.pic.twitter.com/Asi0SCHtPg
"It doesn't sit well with me that Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King are reduced to body parts-- just their arms. Not their faces- their expressions," she wrote.
A cousin of Coretta gave an interview to theNew York Postwhere he said the statue was a "waste of money."
"As to the critics - they have not seen it in person. It is hard to show in 2D something that is this magical in 3D," English told狗万官方via email.
"But I've been hanging out at the memorial the last few days, and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive," he said.
Mayor Michelle Wu's office and Embrace did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
