In September 2021, the Modeste Testas statue in Bordeaux, which commemorates the city’s involvement in the slave trade, was covered in white plaster. Initially, the City Council believed there were racist motives behind the move, so they issued a legal complaint and started an investigation. However, it was established that… Read More
The legacy of Edward Colston, a Bristol-born merchant and Royal African Company executive, involves a complex history relating to local politics, educational institutions, and organisations in Bristol. For many years, the Society of Merchant Venturers, which held significant influence over local heritage policy-making, curated and protected the Colston legacy. At… Read More
A copy of Bright Bimpong’s Freedom statue was gifted to Denmark by individuals from the Virgin Islands in 2017, to mark the 100th anniversary of Denmark selling the islands to the United States. In 2019, the statue was finally placed in front of Eigtveds Pakhus, a colonial-era warehouse, which is… Read More
The equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been the site of significant contention since 2012. Debates surrounding the monument intensified in 2016 with the establishment of a City Council commission and escalated in 2017 to a violent rally that left dozens injured and one counter-protester dead. Read More
In 2015, Yale President Peter Salovey raised the issue of the namesake of Calhoun College during his address to incoming freshmen. The building had been named after a supporter of slavery, prompting university-wide debate about the value of changing the name of the residential building. While initially against a name… Read More
The Matilda Newport Monument in Monrovia, Liberia, commemorates the victory of American free Black settlers over the indigenous population in battle in 1822. The protagonist of the story, Matilda Newport, is credited with lighting a cannon that resulted in the defeat of the native people. The monument has stood in… Read More
Filipina Comfort Women was a statue erected on 8 December 2017 along Baywalk, Roxas Boulevard, in Manila. The contestation began days after the statue’s installation with a request for background information by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Japanese Minister for Internal Affairs and Communication Seiko Noda later regretted the… Read More
In the years after the Confederate States of America (often referred to as the ‘Confederacy’) lost the American Civil War in 1865, several groups established memorials to Confederate leaders across the South. Five Confederate statues were erected on Monument Avenue in Richmond, once the capital of the Confederacy and the… Read More
Public Hearing with Ana Laura’s Collective Mandate and the Front in Defence of African Peoples and Communities at São Paulo’s State Legislative House. Picture taken on October 24, 2023. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cyw29A-tVCQ/?img_index=1. Interview conducted by Vinícius Borges Garcia Fonseca on May 11, 2023. DISCLAIMER: The following interview was conducted in… Read More
First installed amidst clashes with local authorities on May 1, 2018, the Wartime Labourer Statue in Busan, Republic of Korea (South Korea), symbolises one aspect of the trauma left by Japanese colonialism. Initially planned to be erected in front of the Japanese Consulate General in the city, activists ignored the… Read More
