Video features a conversation with artist Dr. Lorenzo Pace, creator of “Triumph of the Human Spirit”
Today, in recognition of Juneteenth, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani released a short documentary highlighting the life and work of artist Dr. Lorenzo Pace, whose monumental sculpture, “Triumph of the Human Spirit,” stands in Foley Square as a testament to the resilience and enduring legacy of Black New Yorkers.
The short documentary explores Pace’s artistic journey and the history behind the sculpture, which was commissioned to honor those buried at the African Burial Ground. The site contains the remains of more than 400 Africans buried between the 1630s and 1795 and is the oldest and largest known excavated burial ground in North America for both free and enslaved Africans. Its rediscovery in 1991 transformed New York City’s understanding of its own history, bringing renewed attention to the central role enslaved Africans played in building the city.
Following the site’s discovery, a memorial was established to commemorate those buried there. Selected from among hundreds of artists, Dr. Pace was commissioned to create a public work that would honor their memory and tell a story long overlooked. The sculpture was funded through the Department of Cultural Affairs’ Percent for the Art program, which dedicates 1% of eligible City-funded construction budgets to public art.
“Triumph of the Human Spirit” features a Chiwara — a ritual depiction of an antelope in West African culture — standing in a boat, symbolizing the arrival of Africans to New York City and their perseverance through generations of struggle and triumph. Rising nearly five stories and weighing approximately 300 tons, the sculpture stands as a powerful reminder that the story of New York cannot be told without the story of Black New Yorkers.
“On Juneteenth, we honor not only the end of slavery but the generations of Black New Yorkers who fought for freedom, built our city and expanded the process of democracy. Dr. Pace’s work reminds us that our responsibility is to continue the unfinished work of extending freedom and justice to all,” said Mayor Mamdani.
See Full Transcript of Video Below:
Dr. Lorenzo Pace: This lock is the actual lock that enslaved my great grandfather Steve Pace in Alabama. This is the foundation of my history here in this country.
What is art? Art is everything and anything. You can look at art as being a representation of our humanity. are to tell the history of the people. If they didn't tell the history, we wouldn't know what the Egyptians did three, four thousand years ago. You wouldn't know what the Greeks did. You wouldn't know what the Renaissance was like if you didn't have the artist telling the story.
I was taught everything about me was bad. My nose too big, my lips too big, my hair too nappy, my skin too black. And so when the art came into me, I began to emphasize those negative things I was taught. The lips, the nose, and especially the hair, and you see the black, beautiful skin. In 1991, my father passed away in Birmingham. After the funeral, my uncle Julius give the lock to me, brought it back to New York.
The first thing I saw big headlines in the New York Times African burial ground in the heart of New York City: Slavery in New York. Come on. You're kidding me.
That was phenomenal for not only me, but for all New Yorkers. So I immediately went down to the site, I jumped on the fence and began to photograph because I felt that it connected my family with the enslaved population here in New York.
And our mayor at the time, David Dinkens, he said, "Hey, everybody think of the South as slavery. We had it going on right here in New York.”
The federal government is saying, "Hey, you know, this is invaluable land." The African-American community was like, "Hey, no, this is precious ground. We don't want nothing to be built on here." So, they said, "Well, okay, we got to figure out how can we build a monument to honor these enslaved population."
New York City Department of Culture Affairs Present for the Arts put a call out for artists to build something that relates to that. I threw my head in the ring. Over 400 artists had plot. They narrow it down to five and I got the call. I was shocked, you know.
So I went to the Metropolitan Museum. This image Chiwara just kept coming up in a number of different African countries. I said, "Oh, let me check this out." This what I came out with, Chiwara. This is what inspired me to build the monument.
I said, "I can't copy the image per se." So, I said, "Well, why don't you see if you do something abstract that represents something?" This is the model that I brought to the committee to look at. And they was like, "Hey, this is what we want.”
So you see the Chiwara on top of a boat in a pool of water. The boat represents the first Native Americans, the immigrants, and then also the boat represents my history, how we got here.
It's a painful story. And New York City was the second largest slave port in the country. Taboo subject. Something like this is very difficult to talk about. Slavery is a very sensitive topic for us, as well as for white folks. It brings up all kinds of ghosts. It goes to the bedrock of our country.
How could a people who have gone to so many atrocities after being in bondage coming from the slave trade freely survive?
You see this big, five-story 300 ton monument. It must be representing something.
Hopefully that will bring for a little bit of understanding of what we all are part of. Whether you like it or not, it is a part of us as Americans.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: And I'd like to begin by acknowledging Dr. Pace, because your sculpture triumph of the human spirit in Foley Square has become a rallying point for so many who dare to imagine a better future.
Dr. Lorenzo Pace: I look back on the experience, it pushed me to go to the highest level I can go.
I feel that when the ancestors want to anoint you to do something, they will.
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